Strength of the Batfamily
by Strengthwars
Summary: The Batman has been around for over 20 years, and the so-called Bat-Family almost as long! They've made a family out of each other, and they are stronger as one! But what happens when someone attacks them in their own home, destroys it and forces them to run. The family is fractured and pushed to their limits, but they will find each other! They always do...right?
1. Prologue (Damian)

**Yeah, first fanfiction. Wahoo. I've been writing for a while so hopefully this will be somewhat enjoyable. This story is about all the different Batfamily members and one big overarching plot that will be explained later. This story was inspired by TheRockingWriter's 6 Robins: The Story of the Huntress. All these characters are based on DC Comics and I own none of the rights to any of the characters in this story. Unless it's an OC, but I don't think I'll really have any in this story.**

 **Just to add some extra context before the prologue begins, here are everyone's ages.**

 **Alfred Pennyworth/Penny 1: 73**

 **Bruce Wayne/Batman: 46**

 **Selina Wayne/Catwoman: 44**

 **Kate Kane/Batwoman: 38**

 **Barbara Grayson/Oracle: 33**

 **Dick Grayson/Nightwing: 31**

 **Bette Kane/Flamebird: 29**

 **Jason Todd/Red Hood: 26**

 **Cassandra Cain/Black Bat: 21**

 **Tim Drake/Red Robin: 21**

 **Stephanie Brown/Spoiler: 21**

 **Harper Row/Bluebird: 17**

 **Carrie Kelley/Batgirl: 15**

 **Damian Wayne/Robin: 13**

 **Helena Wayne: 10**

 **Jamie Grayson: 1**

 **This story takes place in January 2019.**

 **Prologue**

Damian Wayne was born from the blood of Talia al Ghul and Bruce Wayne, two of the most influential and powerful people on Earth. For millennium, man had been developing and constantly working to further development in science and technology. Throughout all their discoveries of strange new worlds and unknown physics and energies, new animal species and modern medicine, man couldn't figure out a better way to awaken people from slumber other than the pulsating Alarm Clark. Damian groaned. He snatched the samurai sword from under the pillow that he'd had there ever since Helena put fire ants in his bed (after he claimed he was the best child of Batman). He slashed the alarm clock in half and it went flying against the wall, smashing on impact. Damian smiled to himself.

He went into his bathroom and turned on the shower. He dumped his head into the stream as he tried to get the ringing out of his ears. Although it was hard on Pennyworth coming in and cleaning up all those alarm clocks every day, it was Damian's stubborn sense that made him keep doing it. Father had said he'd figure out how to get Damian's phone to transmit a frequency that would awaken Damian. That had been over two years ago. That's why no alarm clock Pennyworth had ever gotten him stayed intact for more than a week.

Damian looked at the damaged clock and realized he couldn't tell what time it was. He reluctantly looked at his iPhone, a gadget he still thought pointless, and looked at the time: 9:37 AM. Damian sighed to himself, disgusted. Father had decreed that any member of the so-called "Batfamily" that was under 18 years of age and patrolling a sector had to get at least 56 hours of sleep a week. 56 hours? Insane. That averaged out to a full eight hours of sleep _a night_. All the people that were perishing during those 56 hours. He'd be shocked if Bruce got over 16 hours of sleep a week. That's all that was needed. Pity man hadn't invented a way to ignore sleep and still turn out fine.

With the day being drawling and boring, since he couldn't patrol till nighttime when the scum come out, he decided he might as well go training. Breakfast wouldn't be served till 10 AM sharp, since Wayne Manor had recently fallen victim to an infestation of teenagers in Harper Row and Carrie Kelley. At least all the wards and children adopted by Bruce had either moved out or turned into adults. Damian wouldn't turn into a cliche teenager, as far as he was concerned he was more mature that the average adult. Hell, yesterday he broke six arms and ruptured two appendixes. He enjoyed his life in Gotham.

The manor was big, a necessity for all the cult-like followers Bruce inspired to live in it, but getting down to the Batcave when he lived on the fifth floor was no easy task. He would take the elevator, but he didn't trust a mansion that hadn't been updated since the 90s. When he was eight, he had been in Shanghai trying to escape armed security after he'd carried out an assassination, and upon trying to climb out the top of an elevator to escape, the creaky old thing dropped out from under him. He'd sworn the things off since then. He'd take the stairs.

The Batcave was hidden under the southwest corner of Wayne Manor, and Pennyworth had elected to put him up in the northwest part of the East Wing when he moved in three years ago. Typical. Damian's commute had to shift gears when he reached the third floor, as the stairwell led off into another wing, and going down to the southeast stairwell was the most direct route. As he made his journey down the third floor west corridor, he caught sight of Harper Row in her room listening to some rock band on her headphones loud enough to wake the entire floor. Out of all the scum Damian had faced over the years, teenagers ranked at the bottom of the barrel. Filthy creatures with no respect, he was constantly aggravated at his father's insistence to allowed them to live at the Manor. Just because she was looking for an apartment for her and her brother didn't mean she had to stay here. His father would have been happy to pay for a hotel, surely.

On the second floor, he passed his cousin Bette Kane snoring like some untamed beast. Damian had never taken a liking to Bette Kane, she'd seemed to have caused an awful lot of trouble for his father in the past. Nevertheless, she never passed up the chance to take an extended-stay at the manor, and had been crashing with them since the holidays. No one seemed to mind that the holidays had ended two weeks beforehand. Damian figured that it was about time she vacated the premise, but despite bringing up the matter of evicting her on two occasions with his father, he had allowed Bette to stay.

Unwanted house guests aside, Damian's mind cleared as he reached the first floor. Sounds of cooking could be heard from the kitchen, where he heard Pennyworth and his father laughing about something. As he neared the grandfather clock that marked the secret entrance to the Batcave, his cat Alfred scurried by, pausing only to meow at him. His cat's name proved to be a constant source of amusement for his peers. They thought it funny that he named the cat after Pennyworth yet refused to call the butler by his first name. Damian didn't understand the amusement. He referred to people by their last name, and had given the cat Pennyworth's first name as a sign of respect. Simple. Still, he was teased constantly for this. As far as cats go, Alfred was fairly domesticated compared to all the strays Selina had brought in over the years, though he still preferred the company of the dozens of felines that scurried in and around Wayne Manor. The amount of cats on the property rivaled the number of costumed children, and in his family that was most definitely saying something.

When he reached the grandfather clock, which he thought would collapse and give away the cave any day now, he inputted the time that was forever embedded in his brain: 10:47 PM. The clock slid aside, shuddering and clanging. So much for covertness. Damian stepped through the concealed entrance as the clock slid closed behind him once again. He walked down the stairs to the Batcave, his legs pulling him there from memory.

As he walked in, the air changing, he noticed that many of his fellow vigilantes were already there. Helena was there training with his step- mother. He had to keep telling himself that Selina was his true mother. The Grayson family was also there. Barbara was looking at something on the Batcomputer. Jamie was crawling away from Grayson, towards his Escrima Sticks.

"One day, Jamie," said Grayson, chuckling to himself and pulling his squirming daughter away from the dangerous weapons.

When Jamie saw Damian, she immediately crawled towards him. Damian was mad at himself for thinking that she was "cute", he had no time to waste on such emotions. He was born of powerful blood, and had an important purpose. Jamie latched onto his foot.

"Glazflapy," she exclaimed, slobbering on his foot.

"Greetings Jamie, glad Grayson hasn't put you in a cape yet," said Damian, with as much professionalism he could muster.

"Morning Dami, glad you woke up eventually," Dick said with a brotherly grin on his face.

"I will disembowel you Grayson," Damian said with a frightening tone. Grayson was 31 and married, no sleep penalty. "What's Gordon doing anyway?" asked Damian, staring at his entranced 'sort-of-aunt'.

"Hmm?" murmured Gordon, coming back to Earth, "Oh, I'm researching a bombing case for Black Canary," she said. She didn't have as much to do for her fellow Birds of Prey when she was staying at Wayne Manor, and Damian wasn't surprised she took the first chance she got to jump on a computer. Damian nodded, his eyes wandering to his sister knocking down his s- mother.

"I'm going to go humiliate my sister," said Damian, calmly.

Damian made his way over to the training platform. He walked down the stairs with a spring in his step, towards his sister who was helping Selina up.

"Hello short stack, want to fight an actual opponent?" Damian asked.

"Sure, tell me if you find one," she responded, smirking. Damian chuckled, then he swung his sword out at her legs. She did a backflip over the sword pulling on his outstretched arm, trying to topple him over, but he slid downward colliding with her airborne legs. They both landed on the ground, Helena twisting out of the way as Damian landed in a plank.

"Play nice kiddies," said Selina, walking away from her daughter.

Damian picked up his sword, slashing at her, but she jabbed her hand into his face. He slid to the right and dropped his sword. He began trying to punch her in the stomach, but she dodged every one before jumping over him, trying to pull his head down with her, but he caught her legs and threw her down. She hit the ground, but slid under his legs, grabbing them and trying to pull him with her, but he did a backflip. The fight escalated to more general ground, as they started punching and jabbing out at each other. Helena got a hit in his side. Damian sunk to his knee, faking defeat, and as she moved to knock him out with an uppercut, he rolled to the side. He grabbed his sword and slashed at her stomach, she barely dodged it, leaving a nasty cut.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop…" Helena said shakily, she then twisted and socked him in the nose. Damian stumbled backwards, "…because we're even!" she said with a grin spreading across her face. He moved to punch his sister, but a shadow swept over them. Damian got the wind knocked out of him, and his legs swiped out from under him. Helena was head locked, and thrown across the mat. Father dropped him back on the mat as he and his sister scrambled to their feet.

"Brunch is ready, Alfred made omelets," said father slowly, with effect. Damian and his sister stared at each other for a second, then they were on top of each other scrambling to get to the kitchen first. His father bowed his head and walked away, probably glad he didn't have siblings as a kid.

A few minutes later, Damian was sitting down in a chair so fluffy he was afraid he'd sink into it. At least his fight with Helena was eventful, he had ten thousand steps on his Fitbit and it wasn't even noon. He looked around at the table wondering who was skipping out on the Sunday meal. Jason was gone, probably on some other continent. Cain was off on some mission in Rome, and Carrie wasn't able to make it. Despite crashing in Wayne Manor, she seemed perfectly capable of stopping by whenever she needed to eat or sleep. Guess she found somewhere better to be. The Graysons and Helena had come up for brunch, and Bette must have rolled into a bear trap while she was sleeping because she was awake. Drake and Brown must have made the sacrifice to come home from their "annoying" shift to eat brunch. Kane was sitting next to them. Alfred was seated at the head of the table, Bruce and Selina were positioned on either side. Damian sat next to Bruce while Helena sat next to her mother, eyeing each other's omelet portions. The table was longer, a lot longer than the thirteen of them, so from there on gaps separated them. Drake and Brown were a few seats down on the left side, and Row was chatting it up with Bette on the right. The Graysons occupied the other side of the table, Jamie was cu- amusing. Of course, no one dared venture into her food spewing range.

"Although I would attempt to deliver a speech of upmost excellence, everyone has clearly started digging in already," Alfred announced with an eyebrow raised. Bruce put a hand on his guardian's shoulder.

"Let's eat."


	2. Dynasty (Babs)

**Dynasty**

They had been walking for a while. Although they had a boat positioned at the mouth of the Batcave, that was for what they were taking back. They were planning to sacrifice many shadows in the explosion. There was no time to waste. They had amassed over two hundred shadows to go to the Batcave, they weren't all planning on coming back. The League of Shadows meant commitment, especially when it was the Demon's Head they were laying down their lives for. The great one, her father, stopped short as they reached the end of the catacombs.

"From here on, the tunnels connect to the Batcave's systems. Send the covert team in to place the charges, we attack at 2100 hours," said Ra's al Ghul as the covert team moved in carefully carrying the case with the bombs.

"Are you ready for this Talia? To sacrifice your beloved?" asked her father, looking curiously at her.

"He had his chance, Bruce Wayne must die."

…

While Barbara appreciated the Sunday brunches that Bruce provided at Wayne Manor, the weekend visits had become a bit annoying as time had gone on. She was so used to being right there at her computer, ready to provide whatever information the Birds might need as the hero Oracle. Having to be away from her computer for an entire weekend proved rather hard on her. So Dick wasn't surprised when she excused herself from the table to roll back on down to the Batcomputer while her husband went to change Jamie's diaper. Parenthood was rough on the hero life, the main reason she and Dick were trying to give it up. Though they proved harder than they'd initially thought.

"Terrible, just terrible," exclaimed Tim, he and Steph entering the cave and interrupting her thoughts.

"What's terrible?" Barbara asked curiously.

"I'm supposed to be presenting my project to the board in two weeks, and everything I come up with just screams 'I work for Batman and these are all ideas for secret superhero tech,'" said Tim, sitting down in a chair and sliding over to the secondary computer. Guess she wasn't the only one skipping out on more food for good ol' computer time, a boy after her own heart.

"I thought your secret pet project was supposed to be a prototype for your presentation?" asked Stephanie.

"There's no way that's gonna be done in time, especially when it hasn't been tested," replied Tim, exasperatedly.

"Sounds terrible," muttered Stephanie as she answered a call on her cellphone. Her eyes widened as she heard the voice on the other side, "You're coming now? Okay, don't go right to Bruce though, he's still really pissed. Okay, okay. See you then! Wait you're almost here? Okay see you very soon!" Stephanie finished her call and turned to us. "Guess who's about to drive through those doors?" Recognition crossed our faces.

"Oh Bruce is not gonna be happy to see him," Barbara chuckled. The roar of the motorcycle could already be faintly heard.

"Wait why'd he call you?" Tim asked suspiciously, looking at Stephanie with one eyebrow raised.

"I don't know," said Stephanie looking back down at her phone and shrugging her shoulders.

"Is there something going on between you two?" Tim asked carefully.

"Ew, no. Wait…why do you care?" Oh to be young. Barbara smiled to herself. Tim didn't have time to reply before he was cut off by the roar of a motorcycle.

Jason parked his motorcycle in "the bike rack" which was really a high tech storage facility that could be maneuvered to almost any position in the Batcave. He walked over to the staircase as Barbara rolled over to greet him.

"Hey, Jason. How was Hong Kong?" asked Barbara as Jason walked straight past.

"Eventful," said Jason as he sat down at the Batcomputer with a bag of Chinese food.

"Did you bring that all the way from Hong Kong?" asked Stephanie curiously.

"No, I just got this in Chinatown. I'm either gonna give it to Bruce, to soften the blow, or give it to Cass, so she won't kick my ass," explained Jason.

"You mean you'll give it to whoever tries to kick your ass first?" asked Barbara.

"Yeah basically." said Jason as he opened the bag to let the fumes waft through the cave.

"Want some of this, Timmy? You can spar with me for it," said Jason temptingly.

"No thanks Jason, I'm gonna work on my pet project," said Tim as he opened a door into his secret hangar.

Curious, Barbara rolled along behind him, with Jason and Stephanie in tow.

"What the hell is that?" asked Jason, his eyes growing wide. They were looking at a 60-foot-long plane that was jet-black and probably had enough room for the entire bat-cult.

"Is this Batwing Mk. 2?" Barbara asked, actually impressed.

"It's the Bat-Plane," Tim said, looking up at his beautiful work of machinery, "Lucius and Alfred have been helping me with this one, it's like a portable flying Batcave-"

"You totally stole that from Blue Beetle. They've got their own little flying bug-thing," said Jason, totally ruining Tim's moment, as usual.

"Well they stole a lot of things from us so now it's our turn," said Tim defensively, "Equipped with a bunker and a hull that could fit the Batwing, this baby is equipped with the latest Bat-Wave technology!"

"Wow. I'm not at all surprised this is what you've been spending your time on," said Steph. Tim looked slightly hurt, but she smiled at him, causing him to smile back.

"I'm gonna go face the music," said Jason, turning to leave, "see you guys later." Jason headed up to go face Bruce and Selina's wrath. He was supposed to be back home for the holidays, but of course, Jason hadn't come.

"I'm gonna go do some homework, you know for those of us who actually do go to college," Stephanie said smirking at Tim. Tim's 5.0 GPA and interest in joining Wayne Enterprises had allowed him to persuade Bruce to let him drop out of Gotham U and join RnD. He was supposed to present a project to them in two weeks, but his prototype was definitely bad-inspired.

"It looks good, Tim. You've clearly poured your heart and soul into this project," she told him.

"Thanks, Babs," Tim said. She nodded her head, and then followed Stephanie out.

…

The day passed by as most Sundays at Wayne Manor did. She finished her research for Dinah and sent it off to her, then she finally went upstairs to relieve her husband of his parental duties. On her way up she passed Damian and Helena, who were being disciplined by Alfred after they had some sort of fight that resulted in the destruction of priceless china. She passed Jason stomping down the hall as Bruce watched sternly from a nearby doorway. He and Selina spoke in hushed voices as Barbara waited for the elevator to descend. Once upstairs, she received her daughter with open arms and told Dick to go visit with Jason.

After playing with Jamie for a little bit, she retraced her… tracks, and took her daughter down to the foyer where Jason had given Damian a Rubik's Cube.

"The trick will not fool me, Todd," muttered Damian, as he continued to fiddle with the puzzle.

"So you haven't solved it yet? Takes Tim like thirty seconds."

"Tt."

Barbara set Jamie down on the floor. She immediately crawled towards Jason.

"Aw, look at the baby. Is the baby crawling towards the bad influence? Yes she is, yes she is."

"Fuck you," muttered Jason, flipping through his phone.

"Don't use that language in front of the baby," she scolded.

"Jamie can't hear me."

"I was talking about the Anti-Christ." Too easy. The Anti-Christ was her nickname for Damian, and he picked up on as much.

"Tt."

Jamie got bored of Jason and wandered over to Titus, Damian's dog. The Great Dane allowed itself to be poked and prodded by the baby. He turned his head and licked Jamie, who took this as a sign that attempting to eat the dog five times larger than her was a smart move. Jason pried her away before things escalated.

After bullying Damian some more, Kori called. Mar'i would be spending the school-week with them in Blüdhaven, as she did every other week. When Dick proposed to her two years ago, it was the happiest day of her life. Literally the next day, Kori, Starfire, dropped in with the news that she had recovered Mar'i from her sister Backfire. Mar'i was apparently the secret child of her and Dick, born in 2008, literally right after Barbara was paralyzed by the Joker. Kori had terrible timing. But the three of them made it work, and now Mar'i was loved by them all. It certainly brought she and Kori closer together. They had weekly lunches now, only 10% of the conversation being passive aggressive. All it takes to bring two rivals closer together is a secret illegitimate child.

Alfred prepared a light lunch and some food for the baby. After she was done eating, Barbara put Jamie in her lap and wheeled down the halls at top speed, something that both of them most certainly took too much pleasure in. They ended up in a foyer, another foyer, where Tim, Steph, and Cass were chatting about something.

"Hi Cass, when did you get back from Rome?" Barbara asked, handing Jamie off to an eager Steph.

"Ten minutes ago. Was just settling in," she replied.

"Well the gang's all here. Carrie stopped by an hour before you did. I'm sure Alfred will have his hands full with dinner."

After prying her daughter away from Steph, Barbara wheeled on over to the kitchen where she found Dick helping out Alfred with dinner.

"Anything I can do to help?" she asked, as she had been told to ask by Dick when she was over for dinner at the manor for the first time, sixteen years ago.

"Anything to help the process go quicker," said Alfred, gratefully. The process going quicker was exactly what Barbara wanted, these quiet Sundays with her family were nice, but she needed to get back behind a computer soon.

An hour later, dinner was being served. Alfred was at the head of the table again, with Bruce and Helena sat next to each other this time, and Selina with Damian. Kate sat next to her, and they engaged in some pleasant conversation. Bette sat next to Dick and mostly just obsessed over Jamie. Tim, Steph, and Harper were regaling Cass with some tale. Titus awaited at the end of the table, expecting his scraps. Carrie was happy to oblige, who was seated next to Harper. It was a typical Wayne Manor Sunday meal. But it certainly went faster than brunch. The sky was darkening and the big bad criminals would soon be out to play. Tim, Steph, and Cass had their sector all picked out, and they were ready for action. Kate and Bette would be enlisting Harper to help patrol their own district. Damian and Carrie would of course have their typical Robin/Batgirl paired district, but, much to the Anti-Christ's chagrin, they would be joined by Helena. At the age of 10, she was ready to get out there, and she shadowed Damian and Carrie when they were out on patrol. She had yet to choose a code name, thought word around the mansion was that she was waiting for the Batgirl title to open up.

Once Alfred excused them, Damian and Helena raced each other down the Batcave stairs. Tim, Steph, and Cass followed somewhat reserved, still holding on to a shred of their dignity. Barbara and the others stayed to help Alfred with the dishes. Once that was done, Barbara wheeled on through the Grandfather Clock entrance and onto the small elevator. The others followed. Dick and Jason were going to have a good old-fashioned sparring match. She popped down in front of the Batcomputer, so she'd have a good view.

Steph and Cass emerged from the training rooms in their new gear, a holiday gift from Lucius that hadn't really had time to try out yet.

"Is Tim going out to?" she asked the girls.

"I think so, he was just going to fix something with the uh… Bat-Plane," Steph replied, shrugging her shoulders. Barbara nodded and proceeded to pull up security cam footage of the hangar, curious as to what Tim was doing. He and Alfred were testing the engines. They seemed to be working pretty well, Tim might very well have his test run soon enough.

Suddenly her feed to the cameras was cut. The various lights in the cave flickered and went out. Well this wasn't going to end well.

"Who turned off the lights?" asked Damian from what sounded like the exit tunnel entrance. Guess they hadn't left on patrol yet. Suddenly one light came on above the exit depo Damian and Helena were standing near. Standing in that light was Talia al Ghul. That could mean only one thing: trouble.

As Damian moved towards his biological mother, Helena backing away slowly, Jason could be made out in the faint light, lining up a shot on Talia. While Jason had mostly abandoned the use of firearms under Bruce's strict rules, Talia would make an exception. She had tortured him psychologically and physically for four years after he was resurrected, and he had a score to settle.

"How did you get in here?" Damian asked, pulling out his sword.

"I've always known how to get in here, my son. Come with me now, or I can not guarantee your safety," said Talia as she slowly moved toward Damian.

"I'm not your son," the Anti-Christ spat. Talia smirked.

"Might wanna check your facts on that one," she said, then she lunged at him. She grabbed a batarang from his belt and threw it upwards, slicing Jason's gun, "Move in," said Talia through her earpiece as she dodged Damian's swing. Jason triggered the alarm and jumped down to help Damian.

Barbara raced away from the action, only one goal in mind. Talia wouldn't be her alone, she'd have the League of Shadows with here, and if the Batfamily was going to prevail in this fight they needed the lights back on. Though she made some wrong turns and bumped into the occasional stalagmite, Barbara made her way towards the hydraulic core room, where she'd be able to turn the power back on. She knew there'd be Shadows in there, so when the hand came at her from her right, she had no trouble grabbing it and swinging the assassin over herself and into the wall. She grabbed a shuriken from his belt and through it at the other Shadow standing in the back. It sliced his hand, and he dropped the sword he'd been holding. She grabbed the bar above his head and swung her hand into him, her full body-weight (including dead-weight) behind her. Plopping back in her chair, she rolled over to the emergency power console. In fourteen seconds, she had the emergency lights on. She was good, oh so good. As Barbara turned to leave, she noticed something on the hydraulic core.

"Oh shit."

As Barbara raced back through the cave, she found herself in a sea of costumed heroes and assassins. Selina was doing battle Talia, while Damian and Helena flew around trying to see who could take out the most shadows.

"That's six for me, slowpoke," said Helena gleefully.

"I'm nearly at sixteen," said Damian, smirking.

"No you're not!"

"I'm at eleven!"

"Eleven isn't close to sixteen!"

Was everything an argument for them? Quite possible. Kate was fighting off Shadows while Bette handed Jamie to Alfred. Then she found Dick and Jason fighting off Shadows together.

"Guys, we have a big problem," she said.

"Yeah I was aware of the hundred assassins in our super secret base, Babs," said Dick exasperatedly.

"A bigger problem. The Shadows have planted a bomb on the core. I- I can't disarm it. Not in time. There's less than five minutes left on the clock."

Tim landed from an above platform, running over to them, "They've planted charges all over the cave, too. This place is going down, and we don't have time to stop it."

"We have to get everyone out of here," said Dick

"Noted," muttered Jason, thinking, "Tim, can you get that Bat-Plane up and running?"

"It- it hasn't been tested," stammered Tim.

"This is the test," Barbara said, "it's the only vehicle with enough space for everyone and a high enough speed to get us out of here."

"Okay," Tim nodded, speeding away to his secret hangar.

Dick looked confused, "Bat-Plane?"

Barbara threw a Batarang at a shadow, knocking him over the railing and into the cave waters below. She rolled up to Alfred, reclaiming her daughter from him.

"Head to the hangar, we're getting everyone out on Tim's plane."

"Why?" he asked.

"There's a bomb. A _big_ one."

"Noted."

Alfred could help man the controls, something Tim had never really mastered. She turned to Bette and Harper, also nearby.

"You girls too. Now."

She was on her way to the plane when she finally saw Bruce, full Batman gear, standing across from the Demon's Head himself. Talia had brought her father along, it seemed, and Ra's al Ghul lunged at Batman. Their fighting could be heard from the plane as she finally arrived. Tim, Steph, and Cass were yelling at each other, trying to make sure they were ready to go. Bette and Harper were helping Kate get seated, who had hurt her leg. Jason was climbing down from the cockpit, where Carrie and Alfred were readying takeoff. Even Titus was barking beside the Batmobile, which had been rolled into the cargo hold. Dick ran over to her, and picked up Jamie.

"This bunker will keep the kiddies protected," he explained, "come on, if I'm going with Jamie so are you." Damian and Helena were already grumbling in the bunker, fitted into the bottom of the plane. A hatch marked the only entrance.

"Where's Selina?" she asked.

"Captured," Dick replied, without thinking.

"What?!" both Damian and Helena shouted, "We have to go after her!"

Dick jumped down to stop them from jumping out, placing Jamie on one of the cots located in the bunker. Barbara was about to join him when her thoughts once again returned to her computer. Shit.

"Dick. The Shadows can't get their hands on the Batcomputer, and we cannot lose that data we've got stored on the hard drive."

"Babs…" Dick said suspiciously.

"I can get it. It'll only take two minutes."

"We don't have that kind of time."

"Dick-"

"Babs-"

"Love you. Take care of Jamie." And she closed the hatch on top of them.

Jason and Cass were rushing out to fix some problem with the plane's wing. She grabbed Tim and Steph to be her muscle, and also because Tim could make things go faster. They raced along the cave, knocking down Shadows all the while, and heard the fight between Bruce and Ra's all the while. Bruce was slowing down, and she didn't no how much longer he could keep things up.

The three of them finally arrived at the Batcomputer, and she and Tim finally began to download the Batcomputer data. Despite the advanced and, in some places, alien tech that made up the Batcomputer, the download seemed to crawl along. Steph kept the shadows away, but they were running out of time. The countdown the bomb that Barbara had copied to her watch was almost at a minute remaining.

"86%, come on!" shouted Tim.

Steph seemed to be thinking about jumping in to help Bruce, but he saw her and shook his head.

"GO!"

"Done," Tim said, ejecting the drive from the computer.

Barbara picked up an explosive batarang and threw it at the machine, "Oh the things we do for love."

The Batcomputer exploded, and the three of them raced back towards the plane. But as they neared the ramp into the cargo bay, Barbara heard it. A slice of a sword. One that had struck home. She turned around to see Bruce falling to the floor, stabbed and beaten. No. No, no, no. He couldn't be gone. Not now. Not when they needed him.

Ra's looked up at them and smiled but frowned when he saw the drive in Barbara's hand. Nevertheless, he made haste to leave as well, getting into a boat with Talia and a gagged Selina. Tim was shouting at Jason and Cass to get back inside.

She was being rolled back into the plane.

Stephanie was closing the cargo bay door.

The plane was taking off.

The plane was shuddering from its wing damage.

She was in the bunker now.

Dick was scolding her.

Damian was yelling.

Jamie was crying.

And Bruce was dead. Bruce was dead and there was nothing that could be done.

Then the world exploded.


	3. Memories (Tim)

**Memories**

Red was all Tim saw at first.

His vision cleared, but his ears were still ringing., even after the undoubted hours he was passed out for. As his mind cleared he began to recognize his condition. He felt the pain. There were sharp, blinding pains in his stomach, and he was spitting up blood. He looked down to see several wires and other debris sticking through his body. Including a piece of rebar sticking through his lower torso.

His vision and thoughts became fuzzy. He could feel the blood spilling out of his body. So much fighting. He remembered the fight at the cave, and Bruce… It was too painful to remember. Too painful to keep fighting. He would sleep. Yes, sleep was good. He wouldn't have to fight, he could just drift off… and the pain… would… go away…

…

It was September 6th, 2010. Labor Day. It had been a bad night, the mysterious Cluemaster had been leaving his…you guessed it, clues, all over Gotham. That had been the first case he'd tackled since his training as Robin was complete. He was out on his own. The Riddler had tracked him down and trapped him in his lair. He hadn't known what Eddie wanted from him, but eventually he came down to have a talk with him.

"Okay Bat-Brat, you're new here I get that," Riddler had said, "You've got a lot to live up to, a legacy to fulfill. The last guy in that outfit got burned by the clown prince of crime, I'm sure you've been giving precautions not to trust the bad guy but you've gotta listen," he had stayed quiet, he had wanted to see where Eddie had been going with it, "This Cluemaster guy is stealing my mojo and I don't appreciate him crapping on my legacy. I don't want to kill this guy, you can put him in Arkham for all I care, just get him off the streets."

It was then that Tim's eyes grew wide as he saw a shadowy figure appear on the rafters behind the Riddler. A girl, she was dressed in an eggplant colored costume, with a mask and hood covering her face. The cloaked figure had had a device in her hand. She dropped down behind Riddler and placed it on his desk silently. When she turned to go, she saw Tim, and she had stopped dead in her tracks. As Riddler droned on and on she had crept towards him.

But before she could knock Riddler out, an alarm had sounded that sent henchmen flooding into the room. Riddler had turned around distracted and Tim had flung his legs up around Riddler's head and pulled him straight into the side of the chair, knocking him out. One of the thugs had turned to him, but the mysterious girl took him down and threw something spinning through the air toward him. The batarang caught the side of the chair. He had grabbed it with his hand and began cutting at his bonds. He remembered wondering how she had gotten into his utility belt.

Tim had jumped up, freed, and ran to help the mysterious girl. Together, they defeated the henchmen. It had only taken 90 seconds for the two of them to be standing in a pile of crumpled bodies.

"You're one of the good guys, right? Here, take this," she had said handing him the thing she had placed on the Riddler's desk.

"What is it?" he had asked, but the girl had begun to walk away.

""A little spoiler, it should help you find Cluemaster," she had said as she crawled out the window she had come through. From then on, he had called her Spoiler.

…

Steph. He'd loved her for eight years, and if he died now then so would she.

Tim snapped awake, immediately regretting it. He could feel death slowly creeping towards him, he'd lost too much blood. But he had one thing he needed to do first. He needed to save Steph. And then he saw her. Steph was lying against a few crates on the other side of the cargo bay, her hair was sticky with blood.

"No-nuh-nuh-gah!" he sputtered, barely able to speak. He tried to move toward her but the wires pulled against his internal organs. He cried out as blood soaked from his torso and nose. No! He had to save her. He wouldn't let her die, not after everything that had happened, not after Bruce. Tears spilled into his pool of blood. The liquid mess dripped into a grate a few inches away. A grate, that was slightly ripped from the ground. If only he could get to the grate.

Tim strained to reach it, if he could pull off the sharp end, he could cut the wires, so he at least wasn't restrained. As he reached for it, the bar cut up through his chest. Suddenly he couldn't breathe.

Panic surged through him. The bar must have collapsed his lung, unless he could pull out the wire he was going to suffocate. He surged forward to reach the grate, his eyes bulging, he was gasping and bleeding everywhere. He lunged, blood spurting and latched on to the grate. He strained to pull it off, his vision growing fuzzy. Finally, the grate pulled free, and he made a wild swing to his side. It cut the wires and he collapsed to his knees. He pulled as much of the blockage out of his chest as he could muster. He breathed for a second, before blood spurt from his mouth again, raining down. He looked down at his blood mess of a chest, and he snapped the bar out of his chest. It's not like he wasn't going to die anyway.

He looked over at Stephanie.

"St-st-steph," he sputtered lunging towards her.

He felt her neck and felt her pulse, she was alive! But…he leaned his head against her mouth, she wasn't breathing. He immediately started giving her CPR. But it didn't seem to be working. "No! NO! STAY WITH ME STEPH! STAY WITH ME!" he screamed as he tried to bring her back. "Don't leave me…please…" he sputtered defeated.

Stephanie breathed! She sat up shakily looking at Tim. "Well at least… least I didn't d-die for n-nothing," he said as he collapsed to the ground slipping in his own pile of blood.

"W-what? N-no-no Tim!"" she yelled, still gasping for air, toppling off the crates and trying to revive him.

But she was too late.

He was going away. For good.


	4. Old Wounds (Jason)

**Old Wounds**

Jason woke up to find a gag in his mouth and a stinging sensation in his…everything. As he looked up at the black robed man everything came flooding back into his mind. The League of Shadows had invaded the Batcave, killed Bruce, and forced the Batfamily to board a plane to escape their ticking time bomb of a headquarters. Jason and Cass had been trying to fix one of the plane's damaged wings when they took off. That didn't go so well, and he and Cass ended up underwater thirty yards away from an island neighboring Gotham. League operatives found them and took them away. Jason and Cass got separated. His baby sister was probably suffering as much as him. He had to find her.

"The Demon's Head isn't satisfied with this act, Dumas. He knows you have information on the whereabouts of the Batcomputer drive. He has had a history with you ever since you were restored in the Lazarus Pit ten years ago. This torture need not continue, just give up the drive," said the shadow. These League goons had been torturing him for what felt like hours. They'd brought him here and had been electrocuting him, trying to pry information out of him. It was nothing compared to getting beaten with a crowbar for a week, then burning alive as you were forced to snap your mother's neck to spare her the pain. Piece of cake.

He stared up at his captor. The man removed his gag. "F-fine, I'll tell you. Come closer-r." he said in a convincingly raspy voice. The man came to his face and before he could turn his ear toward him, Jason lashed out at the man's face. He heard the satisfying crack of the man's nose breaking.

"Gullible," said Jason, smiling in spite of himself. The shadow forcefully shoved the gag back in his mouth and clutching his nose, pressed a button on the control panel. Jason felt a surge of electricity and passed out once more.

…

The shadow who had been torturing Jason stepped out of the room. Ra's al Ghul had seen that Dumas was transported on the same flight as himself. The shadow walked over to the Demon's Head himself, who was sitting a few seats down while his men looked over maps and tried to discover where the plane had impacted. Sitting across from Ra's was Talia al Ghul. She was staring out the window as the plane flew over the water.

"Dumas refuses to give up the whereabouts of the drive, or his friends," said the shadow. Ra's al Ghul looked out across the window.

"Well it's unlikely, at this point, that he knows. What about the girl?" asked the Demon's Head. "She still refuses to say the word," said the shadow. Ra's sighed and looked out at the window.

"The Swiss has raised her well, she will not speak, no matter what happens. Our only hope is to find the others."

As the shadow walked away, Talia al Ghul turned to her father.

"Do you really think he's telling the truth? Dumas would not reveal who has the drive to a mere shadow. He needs someone that he has a history with," said Talia.

"Very well. You may go," said Ra's al Ghul quietly. Ra's stared out at the dark water.

"We need to focus our attention on finding that drive. We need the location of the island, and we need it fast. The body won't be in prime condition for much longer," said Ra's. The two assassins stared out at the vast sea as they flew over the water.

…

The sword was rammed through Tim's chest by the shadow, piercing his heart.

"NO!" screamed Jason, in a hoarse rage. Tim's body joined Alfred, Carrie, Barbara, Bruce, Helena and Damian's on the concrete floor, "You sadistic bastards! I'm gonna kill ever last one of you…" Jason trailed off, his voice breaking from the pain of watching his family executed. The guard prepared to stab Stephanie as Ra's al Ghul walked up to Jason.

"It doesn't have to be this way Dumas. Jason…please. Come to your senses," Jason looked up at his former master and spat in his face. "Very well," said the Demon's Head and Ra's looked at the man preparing to kill Stephanie. Ra's gave a slight nod. The assassin rammed the sword straight through Stephanie's heart. She was dead before she hit the floor.

Dick. Harper. Bette. Kate. Selina. All dead. His fault. They prepared to kill Cass.

"Last chance," said Ra's, "where is the drive?"

Jason looked over at Barbara's body, "She has-s it," Jason croaked. The shadows went over to Tim's body.

Ra's turned to him and said, "Thank you."

They killed Cass. ""No," said Jason, barely a whisper. Jason muttered something that nobody could quite hear.

"What was that?" asked Ra's in a mocking tone.

"I'll kill you all…" mumbled Jason as he drifted from the realm of unconsciousness.

…

Jason thought he had awoken, but Talia al Ghul's face was there. Then he realized it wasn't a dream.

"Hello, Jason," said the woman who had psychologically and physically tortured him for four years.

"Fuck off."

"I'm afraid our 'fucking' days are over, Jason. I need information that only you can provide. One of your little friends destroyed the Batcave computer and took a drive with information on it. Information that my father so desperately desires. We need it and we need it soon.

"Now, according to our shadows' reports, the individuals known as Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon -or is that Grayson?- Cassandra Cain were all present before the Batcave was destroyed. You clearly don't have it and your little friend Cassandra doesn't either. But if you don't tell us who has the drive, we'll kill Cassandra."

Those were about the terms Jason had expected, so he went ahead with his prepared statement.

"Fuck off."

"No information? Not even for an ex-lover?"

"Hard to be a lover when there was no love."

Talia rose from her seat and went to leave the room. She paused at the door.

"You're right, Jason. There was never love, it was pity."

Once she was gone Jason was able to turn his thoughts to Cass. He needed to find her, now. Before his dream became a reality. He took in his surroundings. He was in some kind of enclosure, this wasn't meant to be a quiet room for torture that was for sure. It had been set up somewhat prematurely. There were carts and various objects pushed to the sides of the room. He could hear distant voices. He was on some kind of boat, or maybe a plane. Wherever he was, he needed out. Fast.

Jason was sitting on a chair. His hand were behind his back and they were handcuffed. The chair, which by the looks of it was built into the floor. Maybe this was designed to be a torture room. First thing's first. He got up, then fell back down. Evidently taking a gazillion volts to face wasn't great on the escaping. He managed to stand up then lifted his feet and put his legs through his arms as he passed them over under him. His hands now in front, Jason took a shaky breath and broke his left hand. Ow. He slid it through the cuff and looked up at the wall. There was a camera. Shit.

Jason became aware of the shouts outside the door. He hurried over to the stacks of discarded objects on the wall to his right. He took a metal foldout chair and opened it. He positioned it against the doorknob so the door couldn't properly open just in time. He heard a satisfying bang as the shadows collided with the door. Jason went over to a cart by the wall. It was full of snacks and drinks. Guess it was a plane. He grabbed a bottle opener and smashed the camera with it.

…

The shadows burst through the door and looked around. Jason was nowhere in sight. In the corner of one of the assassins' eye there was a dark blur that darted by. They both felt something hit the back of their knees, and they fell. Their swords were grabbed and Jason took out both of them.

"I'm coming Cass," said Jason. He hurried out of the door into the main part of the plane. He was met by several more shadows. He saw Ra's al Ghul dart away and Talia giving him one last curious look as she slipped into the cockpit.

The eight assassins lunged at him. Jason slashed along one man's chest and grabbed his arm, swinging him in front of himself as a human shield. Another's man's sword collided with the other man. Jason pushed the body onto him, and they fell on the ground. Jason stabbed the sword through a mess of ribs, colliding with two shadows. Six assassins. They lunged at him from all sides. He ducked and swung wildly with his sword, which made contact. Five. He stabbed one man and kicked out at another. He pulled the sword out and swung it around, taking out another in a swift motion. Three. He stabbed the other man in the leg. Two. Another came at him from behind he swung around and his blade met the assassin's. He swung upward, then swung his sword around and stabbed the other man. One. He looked around. The remaining assassin had been killed in the struggle. Done.

Satisfied that this looked like as much of an escape as it could, Jason grabbed a parachute and opened the plane door. The pressure changed, and Jason was pretty much sucked out of the plane. Not his most graceful exit, but he got control. Looking to the east, he could see boats deploying as they neared an island. More planes were landing there. That's where Cass was. That's where he had to go. Then he could finally get some answers. He neared the water, and decided it was safe to slip out of the chute.

Jason sucked in a breath, and hit the water.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wanna thank the people who stumbled upon this story and favorited it. It means a lot. Sorry for the six-month lapse in uploading. I meant to finish this chapter in April but never did. Anyway here it is. I'll try to upload more regularly from now on. Sorry that this chapter's on the shorter side but I wanted to get this out there tonight as I'm finishing the chapter. The next few chapters will rotate between the different Batfamily members. Lastly, I just thought I'd put this out there for whoever stumbles along this story in the future; I would love it if someone could review this story. I'd love some feedback as it always motivates me to keep writing. Well, that's all for now. Until next time!**


	5. Sleepless (Helena)

**Sleepless**

Helena was a good swimmer. Her mother had always told her so. She had trained in the water before, and she had always been able to complete the task despite the different conditions. But there was something different about bursting up into cold night air, taking one great gasp before being forced back under by the fury of the waves. Rising up once again, only to find that the dark ocean all around her was not the same as the safe cavern walls of the Batcave. The walls she knew all too well. With its edges and its cracks. The walls of the Batcave had been safe. They'd been home. But in the midst of the dark ocean under a black sky, there were no walls to be seen. No borders at all.

Dick's hands grabbed her under the arms and pulled her out of the water, plopping her down on the overturned bunker. Helena coughed up water, and more water, and even more water. She coughed water until she was convinced she could fill a swimming pool. Then she continued to cough up water. By the time she stopped coughing up water, she decided she could fill the Batcave. Then she remembered why they were all coughing up water on an ejected bunker miles from Gotham City. The Batcave had been destroyed.

She took in her surroundings. Barbara was sitting next to her with Jamie in her arms, who was crying. Her wheelchair was lying somewhere on the ocean floor. Dick and Damian were in the water, yelling at each other.

"You could have gotten us killed!" yelled Dick.

"I was trying to save us!" Damian responded. The two of them didn't look very pleased with each other. From what Helena had gathered since she came to, their bunker had been sinking into the ocean when Damian decided it was a good idea to the burst the pressure valves from the ejecting mechanism and propel themselves to the surface.

"That's what saving is to you, huh?" Dick looked livid, "We weren't ready! Nobody was."

"I was," Damian was looking bored with the conversation, "I told you I was going to release the pressure. We were in an emergency situation and I acted."

"Do you even hear yourself? We need communication, especially in times like these. For all we know, we could be the only ones left alive." Dick's words hung in the air. Helena hadn't even considered that.

"Dick, what's happened to the others?" she asked, unsure if she wanted the answer or not.

"I don't know," said Dick with a sad smile, "but we're going to find them." Helena wasn't convinced. Barbara wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Babs, my GPS is broken does yours work?" asked Dick. He was looking at Barbara pleadingly, but the look that appeared on her face was not one of hope.

"Mine works, but it's out of battery. I might be able to charge it with a solar cell in the morning, but there's no way to know where we are or to call for help right now," replied Barbara solemnly.

"Guess we're in for the long haul then," Dick sighed, "everyone settle in, and try to get some rest."

…

Helena wasn't entirely sure how Dick thought it was humanly possible to fall asleep under these conditions. Dad, Mom, her brothers and sisters: they were all missing. Plus, she was stranded on a crowded bunker in the cold night air.

Helena stayed awake all night, watching the black night grow steadily brighter, and then the sun as it began to rise. Barbara fell asleep with Jamie. Dick and Damian stayed awake, though, avoiding each other's eyes.

Helena was trying to fall asleep when Damian spoke.

"Do you think Father is still alive?" he asked.

That was a question Helena had been thinking about too, but she had decided she knew the answer, ""Of course he is, he's _Batman_."

"That doesn't make him invincible," replied Damian.

"Why are you talking like this?" she asked. It wasn't something she really wanted to worry about. It made her scared. Batman's daughter shouldn't be scared.

"I don't know. The League got into our home, picked us off, forced us to run. It feels like everything that was…sacred, it's been ruined. They know what makes us weak, what makes us beatable. They used us…against us."

Helena didn't like Damian talking like this, "I'm trying to go to sleep, Damian. Just shut up, okay?" Normally Damian would have made some quip, some comeback, but Damian was silent.

In the morning, Dick woke up Babs, and she began to charge her tracker. Helena was so hungry. She hoped they found some destination soon. Even if they had to swim for miles, all she wanted was a goal. She hated waiting. Waiting to grow up. Waiting to be a hero. Waiting to patrol.

It took four hours till the signal was strong enough, but the device yielded grim tidings. The city was miles and miles away, and they wouldn't make it. Helena was scared. Would they ever get back to their family? Would they starve?

"Wait!" yelled Barbara. Helena looked up, Barbara was standing up straight with a look of excitement on her face, "There's another signal! The Bat-Plane! They're headed our way!" Helena felt a smile breaking out across her face.

"We're saved," said Helena. She couldn't believe it. It was some sort of miracle.

"I knew they'd come and rescue us," said Damian with a smug look on his face.

"That's not what you were saying last night," said Helena.

""Shut up!" yelled Damian.

"Why," Helena said with a look of defiance, "you scared?"

"I will gut you sister!" screamed Damian. She lunged at him, but Dick pulled the two of them apart.

"Guys,"" they both turned to Dick, "look," they both turned their heads to the direction Dick was pointing and saw their rescuers on the horizon.

It wasn't a sleek majestic plane like she was expecting, it was the Batboat. Rather, the Batmobile' in it's Batboat functions. It wasn't the actual Batboat, but the Batmobile had boat functions in case of an emergency. The Batmobile-boat finally pulled up to their bunker. The top opened, sitting inside was Stephanie.

"Steph!" Helena flung her arms around her friend. Her family.

"Hey Hel," said Steph with a weak smile, "please be gentle, I'm a little banged up."

Helena pulled away. The others all exchanged greetings, then they all funneled into the boatmobile. The car was meant to seat five, but they all squeezed in. Of course.

"Tim's back at the cargo bay, it was the part of the ship we were in when we woke up," said Steph. Helena frowned at that.

""You don't know where the others are?" she asked tentatively.

""Actually we do, Tim picked up two other signals. He's too weak to leave the cargo bay, so we could only go after one at a time. We figured,"" Steph reached down to pat Jamie's cheek, "it was best to go after the hungry baby first." said Stephanie. She glanced up at everyone else. "And you guys," she said hastily.

The Boatmobile neared the cargo bay Stephanie had described and Helena took the opportunity to look around at her family. They were safe, and they were all smiling. Except for Barbara.

"You alright, Babs?" Helena asked her.

"Fine," she replied. But she still wouldn't meet Helena's eyes.

Babs' behavior aside, Helena wasn't concerned. Things were getting better! They had half the family back already, and trackers leading to the rest. She's see her mom again. And her siblings. And her father of course. She couldn't wait to be reunited with them.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Sorry this next installment took quite a few months longer than anticipated. I do hope that these chapters can become more frequent. I enjoy writing these characters, and I enjoy telling this story. Also, to my first reviewer, hilariously enough you posted that comment about hoping I didn't take a year to write the next chapter right before I posted this. I promise I won't take a year for Chapter 7. I hope to publish a lot more stuff early next year.**

H **ope you liked this chapter, and once again, reviews do keep me motivated to keep writing and if you do stumble upon this story I'd love to hear feedback. Positive or negative.**

 **Happy holidays everyone!**


	6. The Morning After (Steph)

**The Morning After**

The sun climbed slowly into the sky. The hours passed by, and eventually Stephanie stopped shaking. She was covered with blood. Her body felt like it had been used as a tackle dummy by every member of the Gotham City Rogues Football team. Her head was ringing. That certainly hadn't stopped. But Tim was alive. That was all that mattered. He had been torn open, stitched up, cauterized…he'd lost a lot of blood too. But he was alive. Her best friend. No. He was something more than her best friend. She knew that. If only Tim did. She remembered last year, she had gotten drunk and tried to kiss him. He'd shied away. Whenever the memory came back into her head her eyes stung with tears. She was crying now. Silently. It was too much. The Batcave. The explosion. Bruce…she was grateful that Tim was still alive. That she was still alive.

A few more hours and the daylight broke through the cracked roof. Tim began to stir. She wanted to run to him, to fling her arms around him and break down. But she couldn't do that. She had to be the knight. They all did. To stand strong in times of darkness and defend the weak. She rose slowly. She wanted to fall over. She did fall over. But she picked herself back up, because that's what the Batfamily did. We all fall, but we learn to pick ourselves back up. Literally.

Stephanie walked over to where Tim lay, on a cot made out of a torn sheet and his cape that was positioned on the top of a few crates.

Stephanie managed a weak smile, "Morning," it was all she could say. Tim looked at her with half-closed eyes.

"Hi," said Tim. He looked dazed.

"What do you remember about last night?" Stephanie asked. The "surgery" had certainly been traumatic for her, she was curios if he remembered from it.

"Was I…on fire?" Tim glanced around, probably noting a lack of fire.

"I had to cauterize your wounds to stop you from bleeding out,"" she said. She lay down next to him. It felt good to lie down after the night she had.

"This is why I'm never going to med school."

""Seems like you did a good job to me," he said. Tim was admiring his wounds. He looked over at her with a concerned expression, ""Hey…you were hurt too," he tried to sit up, "are you okay- AHH!" Tim screamed as he fell back down.

"Hey hey, stay down. You're still wounded. You can't just get up and keep fighting," she said disapprovingly. Tim was staring at her with a raised eyebrow.

"If you don't wanna be a doctor, how about being someone's mom?" Tim was smirking. She reached across and smacked his head. He smacked her head. "Ow! Concussion remember?" Tim recoiled.

"Sorry. Besides, we both agreed I wasn't ready for the whole mom thing yet." Stephanie had ended up with an unwanted pregnancy a few years beforehand, and Tim had helped her give the little girl up for adoption.

"Yeah. I made a great Lamaze coach by the way."

"You did," she chuckled. She still thought about that baby, even two years later. Tim had helped her through the whole process, something the ex had failed to do. Throughout those nine months, she had this little fantasy in her head. That she and Tim could raise the child together. They could be a little family. Maybe they still could one day. But fantasies were fantasy.

Tim still had the biggest look of concern on his face. It was adorable.

"I'm fine, really," she said. The fact that Tim was so concerned for her made her smile, "I'm not the one who tore my body apart."

"Well I'm not the one who got smashed against the cracking wall of an exploding plane, and stopped breathing for almost a minute!" Tim shouted. They both stared at each other. He looked away. Then he looked back at her, "You scared me.""

"You scared me too," she said as she looked away, "You mean a lot to me you know that?" Stephanie didn't know why she was telling Tim all of this now, but it all come rushing out. She turned her head back to Tim, right as his lips pressed against hers. Tim had kissed her. He pulled away, averting her eyes.

"You mean a lot to me too." Her mouth had fallen open. Tim had kissed her. **Tim had fucking kissed her**! She kissed him back. A lot.

"I've had a crush on you ever since that night we tracked down Cluemaster together," she was so happy that the blood and the loss and the pain all went out the window. Tim had kissed her. Maybe fantasy could be reality.

…

The next few hours seemed to slow down. The sun stopped climbing, the ocean stopped swirling, and the hanger stopped creaking. She and Tim talked and talked and talked. About everything that had happened in the last eight years. Everything they had felt for each other. Then they began to talk about more pressing matters, like the fact that they had lost their entire family and that all those loved ones could be dead. She felt a little bit guilty, but hey, Tim had kissed her. Every vital technological portion of the ship had broken off. But luckily, the Batmobile was parked in the hangar they were in. Jason must have rolled it in there after he was done using it to fight the shadows. That all seemed so long ago. They could power up the Batmobile's computer and search for the other Batfamily members' trackers. Unfortunately, that was going to take a few hours.

As the time ticked by, their conversation of teenage love from before took a grim turn.

"How are we going to tell the others about Bruce? Helena and Damian? Selina…" she trailed off. Tim didn't answer her, "He always seemed so…so…"

"Invincible…" he answered. Tim was right. Bruce had been invincible. But now he was dead.

The rest of the hour passed in silence. She tried to restart the conversation, but they always trailed off. Thinking about the friends they'd lost. Eventually, Tim heard the beep of the Batmobile and tried to sit up. He shrieked again.

"You stay down," she said, ""I'll check." She powered up the computer and plugged in the password. She activated her own tracker and then pulled up the map, "Crap. We're miles from Gotham," she said.

"Are there any other signals?" Tim asked. She checked.

"There are three," she said, "Alfred has his activated. So does Barbara…and so does Kate."

"Okay, let's think about this. I didn't have a ton of time to look around when I got inside, but Babs was with Dick and the kids in the bunker right? Carrie was with Alfred in the cockpit. Kate, Harper and Bette must have been separated from the rest of us if they're in a different location. Jason and Cass were on the wing…" Tim trailed off. Neither Jason nor Cass had their tracker activated. Could they… No, not after Bruce. She couldn't handle it. Tim, her and Cass had been the three amigos. Cass couldn't…and Jason too.

"Let's stick with what we know," keeping her voice calm, "Babs was with the kids. They had Jamie with them too. We need to go for them first."

"Right," said Tim, "The Batmobile can turn into the Batboat- hey I'm coming too!" Tim tried to sit up and shrieked again. She smiled.

"You stay here, I'll go get them and come straight back. We can compare notes from there, then go get the others," she turned back to look at him as she turned the Batmobile on, "I'll come back to you."

"Okay," Tim sat back down and smiled.

Stephanie pressed the button and the doors on the Batmobile closed. The front section of the hangar had been destroyed. She drove through it, straight into the water. She activated the Batboat functions and the sinking car became a water vehicle. She began driving towards Babs' signal. She looked back at the floating hangar one last time. Even if she had to fight off the entirety of the League of Shadows…even if it was every member ever…past and future…from every Earth in the multiverse, she'd find her way back to him. It was a promise.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Two days, two chapters. Sadly it won't be a three-day streak, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Timsteph forever.**


	7. A Promise (Selina)

**A Promise**

They had moved her again. First it had been that wretched speedboat, where she'd woken up to see a crater where her home was and no trace of her family in the sky. Then it had been a plane. Then the helicopter. Now she had woken up on another boat. She could hear the waves. Thirteen years ago, Selina would have been number one. But now she couldn't care less about herself. It was all Bruce's fault. She'd fallen in love. When he told her to turn herself in, she'd done it without a second thought in the hopes they could have a life together. Now here she was. Not only did she have a daughter, a husband. She had her son as well. Damian was her son, she was the one who'd raised him. Really raised him. Who taught him how to be a kid. Now she had a whole family too. She had no idea where they were. If they were still alive.

She heard the footsteps long before she arrived. Sound echoed throughout the halls of the unknown watercraft. Talia appeared before her. She was dressed in dark blue. She had a gun attached to her right hip, a dagger on her left. She saw the outline of another dagger on the women's left leg. She probably had more concealed weapons. Then of course, there was that sword slung over her back. Selina on the other hand, had been stripped of all her concealed weapons, her utility belt, and her claws. No fair.

"I have mixed feelings about this encounter," said Talia, "I've longed to wipe the smirk off your face with a good old-fashioned bit of torture. But, at the same time I had hoped I would never have to lay my eyes upon the disgusting thing that hangs before me.""

"What? Your ex's wife?" retorted Selina. Talia smacked her across the face. She had seen it coming, but there was blood in her mouth from where she had bitten her tongue nonetheless.

"I hate to say it, cat, but I need your help," Talia had a helpless expression on her face. The fact that Talia considered Selina's help so bad was just a little bit offensive.

"What do you need help with?" asked Selina suspiciously. Talia raised an eyebrow at that.

"I'm not going to distract myself telling you my whole plan so your son can sneak in here and rescue you," responded Talia.

"Hey, you brought it up," Selina's mind was racing. Talia had mentioned 'her son'. Someone was on this boat with her. Someone in the family. But who? Not Damian. Talia would have made a point to mention "her son" instead of Selina's. Dick? Jason? Tim?

"I'm looking for something," said Talia, "there was something on your Batcomputer my father desires. But your elusive family prevented our attempts to get it before the cave was destroyed. Luckily, our shadows witnessed three of you copying information from the computer to a drive. We want it."

It seemed like the League had certainly gone through a lot of trouble to destroy their home, to get them running. What was their end goal? What was on the Batcomputer that the League could have wanted? A lot. That was the answer. But Talia certainly had her mind set on something specific.

"Well, you've searched me and I don't have this drive you're on about. How about you untie me, we can have a little talk. Girl to girl. Or we can kick the crap out of each other. Your choice," suggested Selina. She didn't have much of an opinion there. She's attack the bitch either way.

""That offer tempts me more than you know, but I'm afraid that my father has put some strict interrogation matters in place after the last one of you escaped," Escaped. Talia had said escaped. There were _others_ here. _Others_ being held captive. _Others_ still alive, "You're not being very cooperative but luckily, I can still use torture to get the information I need," continued Talia. She walked over to a briefcase, which she opened to reveal a colorful collection of jars and vials. Poisons.

"You know Talia, this is something I've always wondered, did it hurt when Bruce left you?" Selina asked cooly. Talia's eyes drifted up from the briefcase, staring into nothingness, "Of course, you never had much of a relationship. You dragged him to the middle of a desert, drugged him and raped him. When he found out, he left disgusted. You forgot to mention that little detail about your son, by the way. Plus you raised his son to, you know, be a cold-blooded killer and emotional weapon to use against Bruce in your latest scheme to take over Gotham-" Talia hit her so hard, she doubled over. When she tried to raise her head, she felt a dagger slide into her mouth.

"Kittens shouldn't talk so much. Maybe I should remove that tongue for you. Kittens are supposed to be pets. That's all you ever were to him. His pet," It was like Talia was spewing venom. Her voice commanded silence. But Selina had always had trouble following directions.

"His pet? Strange how he married me two years later. Then, nine months after that, we had a child together. She's great pals with Damian by the way,"" Okay, that part was a lie, "Remember? That son you left behind? He's more mine than yours now anyway-" Selina stopped talking suddenly. Something Talia had said had been bothering her. She couldn't figure out what it was. Then it dawned on her, " _Was_? What do you mean was his pet?" Talia was smiling. She walked back to the briefcase and picked out a vile, "Talia you two-faced bitch, answer me!" Talia cut her off.

"They call this poison the black widow. One shot and you will experience the most pain you've ever felt in your life." Talia inserted the vile into the injector. She neared Selina, prepared to administer the poison.

"Talia! Tell me-" But Talia covered her mouth with her hand.

"You said that Bruce told you I raped him. Is that the story he crafted for you? For himself? Please, no woman could rape by beloved. He wanted it," she said. Of course Talia was lying, but the words still hurt, "Face it kitten, you weren't his first love. But you were his last."

Talia injected her with the poison and Selina died.

…

At least that's what it felt like. Unimaginable agony. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't see. Nor feel, nor hear, nor smell. She could barely think. Except for one thought. Bruce was dead. Her love. Her life. The reason she had a life. He was gone. Talia had taken him from her.

It felt like an eternity before Talia returned. She barely heard the footsteps this time, but her senses were returning to her. She heard the guard speak first.

"The poison has been in effect for a total of five hours, Miss al Ghul," Selina called bullshit. That had been a lot longer than five hours.

"Excellent," Talia looked over at Selina, "A cat is supposed to have nine lives, no?" she turned to the guard, "Give her eight more injections. I want each to run its course. I'll see you in forty hours," Talia turned to go, but Selina had one last thing to say to her.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you. For Bruce."

Talia smiled, then she walked away.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Okay I'm just gonna stop setting restrictions and making promises on when I'll upload chapters. Right now I'm really enjoying writing once a day but I might take another three-month hiatus, who knows. I'm certainly enjoying it right now though. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, too.**


	8. Horizon (Carrie)

**Horizon**

Carrie liked the idea of being a pilot. She was no stranger to flying the Batwing in dire situations, which happened a lot, despite her youth. There was something about flying above the clouds that captivated her. Of all the crazy stuff she'd experienced as Batgirl over the last two years, that was what had made the biggest impression on her. She had considered it for a career one day, I mean as much as any fifteen year old considers any career. So when everyone had been going apeshit over the fact that a hundred ninja assassins had invaded the super secret Batcave, and Alfred needed someone to help fly the plane, Carrie said, "I'll help." It was somewhere around the time that she flew through the cockpit windshield that she regretted this decision.

The explosion tore the plane apart, so Tim's test run ended up being a failure. The cockpit flew off into the distance, with Carrie flying out the window. It was Alfred's quick reflexes that saved her, who grabbed onto her hand before she hit the water. But they still hit that water, and Alfred's help couldn't prevent the bumps and bruises she picked up along the way.

Alfred fished her out of the debris and did what he could with the onboard med-kit, but most of their supplies had been lost with the rest of the plane. So here she was, her arms crossed over her legs as she sat on the cockpit's dashboard, a concussion, and a whole lot of fear as the cockpit slowly sunk into the ocean. Titus was sulking beneath her, evidently hungry. Of course the damn dog was fine. Alfred was fiddling with his tracker, unsure if he'd properly sent out a signal or not.

"It's been hours. Face it, no one's getting that signal," she told Alfred, quickly regretting the effort she'd expended speaking.

"Never give up, Ms. Kelley. The screen on the device is broken, it's entirely possible there could be a dozen members of our theatric family receiving our call right now."

"And they'll be on the horizon soon I suppose?"

"Soon, Miss Kelly, soon."

There was a silence that lasted for a long while after that. Carrie kept her eyes trained on that horizon line, but no help came.

"How do you do it, Alfred? I mean… getting through the dark times, when there's no hope," she wondered, "I mean with Jason's death, and Bruce's supposed death, and the Cataclysm, and everything happening now. How do you stay hopeful?"

Alfred was silent for a long time, but at last he began to speak, "I was an ex-Royal Marine when I went to work for the Wayne family. I had been forced into settling down by British Intelligence, knew too much for my own good after the war. Thomas and Martha were good to me, and I took care of their little boy as if he were my own.

"Somewhere along the way during those first few years, Thomas told me something. He said that no matter how many times he failed as a doctor, whenever he failed to save a life, whenever an operation went awry, he recovered. He was always able to get back up again and persevere through tough times, because he knew he was needed. People needed his help.

"That's a mentality he passed down to Bruce and I, and one that Bruce has passed down to the 'Batfamily'. People need their heroes to stay strong, to get through hard times. So even when hope seems few and far between, we have to stay vigilant. We are the knight, and we must stay strong. People need our help. Our family needs are help, and we'll find our way back to them."

Carrie didn't have much of a follow up, "Wow," but she decided to tack on, "you're right, Al, I'll keep my eyes on that horizon line."

…

The League of Shadows had invaded the Batcave. Their home turf. They'd taken her friends, forced them to run. Forced her through a windshield, indirectly. When Carrie had become the fifth Batgirl, she had sworn a vow to Bruce and Babs. To be the knight. The silent protector that fought against corruption and injustice. The shadows had fractured them, stopped them from doing what they were meant to do, from protecting their city. They had fallen down, but they'd get up. The Batfamily was coming for the shadows, and they wouldn't be able to stop them. They were strong, stronger together, and as long as they stood there was hope on the horizon.

When Dick and Steph appeared on the horizon line, she smiled. Time to get to work.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Wow, this was a really short chapter. But rather than pad it out I figured I'd just get to work on the next one. This is the turning point of the story, and I think I got the point across. The Batfamily is coming back together, and they're gonna take the fight to the Shadows. Reviews are always appreciated. Have a good one!**


	9. Endgame (Kate)

**Endgame**

If only she hadn't dropped the tracker. Then the Batfamily could jump in and help out. But of course, Kate had botched that. Perfect.

At least she'd remembered her breathing mask. When she saw Bette being dragged away, she'd feared that her utility belt would not give her the quick fix she needed. But she'd indeed packed it. Maggie always made fun of her for her utility belt. But who's laughing now? Well, not Kate. She wasn't 100% sure the breathing mask was helping, as she dove through the waters after the fiery speed boat. But she was pretty sure her heart was beating so fast that she couldn't breathe anyway.

If Harper ended up killing Bette…she was going to kill Harper. The speedboat was swerving, and Bette was drowning as she was dragged through the choppy waters behind it. Kate heard Harper swimming behind her. She better be more useful if she was trying to help again. She knew that Harper _was_ just trying to be helpful, but she might have gotten Bette killed. Her attempt to sever the line tying Bette to the boat had missed, it had struck some machinery on the boat as well. She didn't know what it was, but it was on fire now.

As fast as Kate was, she couldn't catch up to a speedboat. Especially with her wounded leg. But she might just stand a chance against a damaged one.

Now.

Kate shot her grapple line at the speedboat. She had been close enough, and the line stuck. She zipped right up the boat, clutching to the back of it. Kate pulled out a batarang, and cut the line. Bette sunk into the ocean a dozen yards back, but Harper was on her, pulling her up. Kate turned, too late, she was hit in the face with a gun. She blacked out.

…

"Kate!" She awoke to Harper shouting in her face. She began coughing up water. It took a minute, but she finally cleared her lungs. She breathed in the salty air as she took in her surroundings. They were on a beach. It was getting dark. Bette was sitting next to a small fire. She looked banged up, but okay. She looked the other way and found a shadow, presumably the person that had snagged Bette in the first place, knocked out and cuffed, lying on the sand.

"Thought you were dead," said Bette quietly. She wasn't just hurt, she had been scared. For her. Kate put on her bravest face.

"I'm fine. I was more worried about you!" Kate stood up shakily, and went over to sit by the fire next to Bette. Harper followed.

"I'm okay. Nearly drowned, but I survived. Cut up all over," said Bette, "I didn't even see what happened. You were trying to get a signal out. Harper was looking for supplies. I was swimming around bored, then I was racing along the water. Felt like I swallowed half the ocean," She took a shaky breath. Kate frowned.

"I lost the tracker," she told them.

"We know. We tried to reach out to them for medical help," said Harper. Damn. Of course, she had to drop the tracker. Bette and Harper didn't have trackers yet since they weren't officially part of the 'team'. If they made it through this, Kate would give them both trackers no matter what their status was.

As the sky darkened around them, Kate learned the full story of what had happened. The shadow had knocked her out, but Harper had been able to get onto the boat with Bette. They had taken the boat as far as it would take them, Kate understood that the boat had begun to sink, but by then the two of them had seen the island. Bette and Harper swam Kate to the beach, and here they were now. They'd saved the shadow too, and he was beginning to stir.

"Why were you following us," asked Kate. It wasn't a commanding tone, but she wasn't asking either. He knew that.

"The Demon's Head has men patrolling the area for survivors, in the hopes that he will find what he desires," said the assassin.

"What does Ra's 'require'?" asked Harper. The shadow stayed quiet.

"Not talking? I think I'll have to persuade him," said Bette, who cracked her knuckles.

"Don't bother, Bette, the League trains these guys to keep their secrets," said Kate. They'd need to act like they had what this guy desired if he was going to give up the information, "What if we told you that we had something…you desire?" Kate tried to think, what would they desire? "Information," she finished.

"What kind of information?" said the assassin with a raised eyebrow.

"Plenty. What do you need? Tell us, and we'll give it to you," said Kate, "as long as you tell use where our friends are." The assassin considered this for a moment.

"I don't think so," he said. Suddenly his cuffs were off, and he was wielding two daggers. It was gonna be one of those days.

Harper attacked first. She wasn't one to wait around for her opponent to move first. The assassin dodged her attack, grabbing her weapon and knocking her to the ground. But before he could kill her, Kate and Bette were upon him. Kate kicked and punched. She pinned his left arm to the ground, forcing the dagger out of his left hand. She grabbed a battering and flung it at his head. Bette was also attacking him, and Harper had gotten up as well. A few minutes later, the three women were standing up while the shadow was lying on the ground once more.

"Well, it's not like he was gonna get around to telling us anything," said Bette. Kate agreed with her. But at least they knew the assassin was after something, that part seemed true enough.

The three camped out on the beach that night, but they didn't have to wait as long for a rescue as they'd feared. Kate's leg was aching again.

"How'd you find us?" Kate asked, as Dick, Steph, Alfred, Carrie and even Damian's dog Titus appeared on the beach in the Batboat.

"We found Bette's belt a little ways a way from your tracker," explained Steph, "we just kept heading that way in the hopes that you were…still alive."

"When we saw the island, we knew that's where you had to be," finished Dick. Kate hugged them.

"I'm glad you're okay. Have you found the others?"" she asked.

"Most of them," said Stephanie darkly, "I don't suppose Jason and Cass are hiding behind some rock on this beach?" Kate shook her head.

"Hey," said Kate, trying to change the subject, "we think we know why the League attacked. They're after something we have, we just don't know what." It wasn't much to go on, but…

"And now," said Bette, appearing behind her, "we think we can find out what it is."

Kate spun around, "What?"

"After that shadow tried to kill us, Harper and I searched him again. We found this communicator. It might just tell use what the League's endgame is."


	10. Silence (Cass)

**Silence**

Cassandra had been raised in silence. Her mother had been Sandra Wu-San, the Lady Shiva. Her father had been David Cain, the Swiss. It was her father who had raised her, in silence. Well, she had been silent, her father had not had a problem with raising his voice when he was angry. Cassandra had not been taught to speak. She had been taught to kill. Emotion, to her, had been a weapon to reveal the enemy's plan. She was trained to read emotion. On the day when she killed her first man, at eight years old, she had read what he was feeling. She had been running ever since.

Of course, Cassandra had picked up the English language when she found herself in Gotham. Bruce had hired a tutor for her when he adopted her. Stephanie and Tim, her best friends, helped as well. After six years, her English was pretty good, if still a little flawed. She still had no trouble being silent though, and she was being silent now.

She had been silent the entire time. She estimated she'd been in their captivity for over a day. They'd beat her, electrocuted her, poisoned her. But she never spoke. She never screamed. She was used to pain. It was an old friend.

Clearly disappointed by their failed interrogation attempts, the assassins who had been charged with her mostly took to skulking around the room she was being kept in. Right now, she was being kept in some facility the assassins owned. She'd been in planes, helicopters and boats on her way here, but she knew that this was their final destination. At least until they got what they wanted. Whatever that was, she had yet to learn. Luckily, the lack of torture allowed her to take more time to learn.

She had six guards. There were typically three to four in her room at a time. They each had a dagger strapped to their right hip and a communicator strapped to their left shoulder. They each had a gun at their right hip and a sword on their back. No doubt they had other weapons as well.

She didn't know their names, but she knew their thoughts and feelings.

The first one didn't like guarding her. He was jumpy and glanced down the hall whenever he heard footsteps. He would sometimes zone out, others would have to tap him on the shoulder to get him to rotate. He was terrible at rotation time. He was clearly new. Not inexperienced, but new to the League. Unfamiliar with their guarding techniques. He wanted to be at the top. He didn't like being on guard duty, hopeful for a position where he would be able to prove himself.

The second hated the first. He was fed up with him and wanted him out. The number of angry glares sent his way increased by the hour. He was also fond of his dagger, throwing it at the wall and trying to hit the same spot every time. He most likely was hoping for a marksman position. Though he clearly needed better aim for that, his misses were almost common.

The third was comfortable. He sat in a chair most of the time, staring at the wall, staring at her, staring at his fellow guardsmen. Sharpening his sword, making jokes with the fourth, practicing with the six. She even saw him pull out a book once.

The fourth was also comfortable, but clearly a bit bored. He was rearing to go, and yet he kept flexing his left arm, or doing one handed push-ups with it, or arm wrestling with number five. His arm had evidently been damaged and was in the process of healing.

The fifth seemed lost, as if he had made the wrong decision when faced with a difficult choice. She knew the feeling. There was a sadness in his eyes, he kept glancing at the door, wistfully. Something or someone was on the other side, but he had to prove himself before he could get to it.

The sixth was always on the move. Going between her chamber and the adjoining corridor and the other rooms there, even if it didn't seem like he was supposed to. He had a lot of energy. The kind of person you'd want to fight off a rescue attempt, but not the person you'd want for the rest of the guarding duty. He wasn't good at standing around.

Cass had no knowledge of time passing while she was in the chamber. But eventually, the fifth got called away and did not return. The same thing happened to the sixth. Then the first, then the third, then the fourth. She could have taken on six, but one…one would give her all the time in the world to find her friends.

The moment was chosen for her when the second got a call on their communicator. He mumbled a word of confirmation to the person on the other side, then turned to Cass.

"The Demon's Head had hoped you would provide the information we were looking for, but your lack of cooperation has proven to be a nuisance we can no longer entertain. You will now meet your end. The Demon's Head grants you a last word."

"Closer," she whispered, "speaking…difficult," she finished. The shadow took another step toward her. Perfect. Her legs swung up around his head with a strength he could never have anticipated. She heaved him up, by the head, so that her right hand could grasp hold of the dagger on his right hip. As she ripped it free, the second finally faded into unconsciousness. She let him go, and he fell to the floor. She made sure to watch his chest rise once more. She had sworn she'd never kill again.

Ten seconds later, Cass was on the floor with the dagger in her hand. She stripped the guard of his sword, gun and communicator. She took the water as well. She had been thirsty. She crept over to the wall, where a ventilation shaft was covered up. She used the knife to pry it away, and slipped inside.

…

She wanted to know what all the fuss was about. All her guards had left but one during the last hour. Watching the shadows scurry beneath her, she learned they were on the hunt for an escaped prisoner. She listed to a dozen conversations, trying to piece it all together. A prisoner had escaped on the plane ride here. The League had destroyed the plane when they landed, but they didn't find the prisoner's body. Then, an hour ago, something had gone missing from the armory. She didn't know what, but she was more focused on the prisoner.

Whoever it was, it was likely a fellow Batfamily member. Hopefully it was Jason, her brother that had been captured alongside her.

"Who's up there?" said someone from below. She froze. She'd been making too much noise, in her hurry to uncover the truth behind this escaped prisoner. She silently pulled out her dagger, prepared to strike. She heard movement beneath her, but not what she'd been expecting. It sounded like they were…fighting each other?

A hand crashed through the grate in the ventilation duct and grasped her leg, attempting to pull her down. She swung wildly at the hand, but the person pulled away at the last minute. She tumbled down onto the ground, looking up to see who it had been.

"Fuck, Cass. You almost took my arm off."


	11. Confession (Alfred)

**Confession**

They heard it around sundown. Gasps erupted from around the room. Master Tim scrambled with the communicator, dropping it before picking it up again and turning up the volume.

"Dumas has escaped. No body was found," repeated the shadow over the communicator.

"That's Jason!" said Miss Brown, excitedly. Master Tim muted the communicator, so they could all continue to talk.

"Jason must be scurrying around their facility, right now!" said Master Tim, "If Jason survived, Cass and Selina are probably there as well."

"And Bruce," added Alfred. He watched as Master Tim's look of relief vanished. He looked over at Miss Brown, who looked at him and nodded her head in the direction of the rest of them. She wanted him to tell them something.

"When everyone's here," said Master Tim solemnly.

The apartment didn't have the aesthetic of the manor, but even Alfred was able to appreciate its charm. The modern design of the Wayne Penthouse completely differed from the mansion. But of course, that was gone now.

Alfred had turned the dining room into his makeshift hospital. Tim sat on the bed while Stephanie sat on a couch next to him. They were both pretty banged up. Tim had bandages all across his stomach and chest, while Stephanie had bandages covering her forehead and ribs.

They had been taking the Boatmobile in two groups. Jamie and her mother, Master Damian, Master Helena (as she insisted he call her), Master Tim, and Miss Brown had gone first. Both Miss Kanes, Miss Row, Master Dick, and himself were the second wave. Plus Titus. They were supposed to be here any minute now. Miss Brown walked out of the room to go tell the others about Master Jason.

They had been recording the information from the communicator. They all knew they couldn't keep the rest of their family waiting too long, but they had to be precise and careful. The League were some of their most deadly foes. They'd proved that two days ago. Master Dick and Miss Kane were in charge. They were making a plan of attack.

They were going to be using two prototype planes currently in the Wayne Enterprises RnD lab that Lucius Fox had provided for them. Miss Kelley and Miss Kane (the other Miss Kane) would be flying the planes, leading a frontal attack on the League outpost. They didn't know the League's final destination, but they had pinned down the outpost they were residing in from the communicator.

Master Dick would lead a team consisting of Master Damian and Miss Row. They were going in on the Boatmobile, to siege the docks and destroy their means of transportation. Boats, helicopters, planes… it was all going to be shut down.

Miss Kane would lead Master Helena and Miss Brown into the base, straight through the front doors. They would enter the ventilation and find their friends. Then they'd free them. Then they would escape, hopefully stopping the League's plan on the way out.

A well-thought-out exercise in Alfred's opinion.

Miss Brown walked back in to his makeshift clinic.

"We should go tell them, now, before any more time passes," said Miss Brown, looking at Master Tim, "come on," she said, nodding at Alfred.

The three of them walked into the kitchen. Everyone was there, exchanging information and the new knowledge of Master Jason's survival. He watched as Master Tim, Miss Brown, and Miss Grayson exchanged a quick glance and began to speak.

"I have something to say," began Master Tim.

"" _We_ , have something to say," corrected Miss Brown. Master Tim nodded.

"There's something we've been keeping from you these last few hours. Something we had no right to keep. Maybe, we were just too distracted by the pain, or we just didn't want to believe it," Tim took a shaky breath, "Bruce is dead."

The room was silent. It was as if all the life in the room had been sucked out. Then there was an explosion. An explosion of, not of sound, but emotion, of sadness, of sorrow, of hate.

Alfred collapsed back into a chair. There were recurring questions in the midst of the crying and the shouting. How? When? Who? None of that mattered to Alfred. For he already knew the only important part he cared to know. Bruce was dead. His boy. The little boy he had found sobbing at the police station 38 years ago and told that everything was going to be okay. That things would get better. The boy he'd watched dedicate his life to a mission Alfred knew would only end in one thing: death. But it was unexpected all the same.

Master Dick was on the floor with Master Tim, they were shouting and crying at each other. Miss Brown was trying to pull them apart. Master Helena was yelling at Miss Grayson, angry that she hadn't told her. Master Damian was silent in the corner.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Alfred's voice cracked through the air like a whip. Everyone quieted, looking nervously at him, but Alfred had his eyes on Masters Dick and Tim, "Do you really think this is what Bruce would have wanted? Do you? No, it wouldn't be what he wanted. He'd want us to fight back, to rise up." Miss Kelley got to her feet.

"Alfred's right. We don't quit now, not when it gets rough. We get back up and we keep fighting. We know where the League is. Where the friends, that we can still save, are being kept. So what the fuck are we waiting for?"

They all looked at each other, wiping tears from their faces and changing their looks of grief to looks of determination.

Alfred was the one to speak at last, "Let's do this. Tonight."

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Chapter was a little on the shorter side, but only because we're ramping up to the big finale. Expect some action-packed final chapters. Reviews are always appreciated, positive or negative.**


	12. Rescue Op (Bette)

**Rescue Op**

"Eight have gone missing," said the assassin who stood before him, "but it's possible that they all died. A true member of the League would never let themselves be captured." Oh please.  
"We know someone has been hacking our communications, and since that signal is coming from Gotham and not here, I doubt it's the prisoners like you suggest," said Ra's al Ghul. It didn't matter if Grayson and his band of caped crusaders knew their friends were here, it was all part of the plan, "Leave me," he said to the shadow, who nodded and left the room.

Ra's stood and walked to the window. He stared out at the seemingly endless ocean, wondering where the island lay. He sighed. Things could have been so much simpler if it had all gone according to plan. But the assassins he sent to retrieve the coordinates from the 'Batcomputer', twelve of his best men, had failed. Ra's had them executed, naturally. Then, the capes he'd captured had failed to produce knowledge of the drive. Now he had the others listening to their friends scurry around in the pipes of the outpost. Ra's looked at the ceiling, then the walls. He wondered where their "prisoners" were now.

Frowning, Ra's decided to call forth one of his guards.  
"Yes master?" he asked.  
"I've changed my mind. Instead of having more guards for Ms. Wayne, I want her brought to me instead."  
"Yes, of course." The assassin took his leave as Ra's looked back out towards the sea. Let them come.

…

Bette was nervous. Shit, she shouldn't be, but she was.

"Gamma Squad, are you a go?" asked Kate.

"Set to move in," responded Carrie over the comm.

"Alpha has located Catwoman, Oracle imputed the coords into your console. We launch in 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. GO."

Bette's plane moved swiftly through the air as she moved in, Carrie serving as her shadow. Their two planes neared the point where Selina was supposedly located.

"Someone is guarding the roof," said Carrie as they came into view.

An old sensei stood on the roof of the complex where Selina was being held. His eyes were on the sky. Bette used the right wing camera to zoom in on him. Of course there was no way the man could see them. Their planes were cloaked, and completely silent, its tiny noises dissolved by the wind. Lucius had hooked them up good. But as Bette lowered her eyes to the screen, she made direct eye contact with the man. He was looking directly at the camera.

"Bette, look out-" But Carrie's words were lost in the resulting explosion caused by the man throwing his sword directly into the plane's engine. Like what the actual fuck was that? She didn't have much time to dwell on it, her comms were out, and she was currently crashing through the roof of the complex.

As far as plane crashes go, she'd been through worse. She had barely been off the ground. But the fiery remains of the engine were another matter entirely. She kicked out the cracked cockpit windshield and crawled onto the ground. The right engine was smoking, and another explosion was definitely an eminent threat. Unfortunately, two dozen shadows had surrounded her.

So much for stealth.

Suddenly gunfire broke above the shadows' heads. The engine was hit, and it exploded. Flaming jet fuel covered nearby shadows, and the others were sent running. The source of the gunfire gave her and hand, and she got up.

"Guess women are just fallen out of the sky for me today," said Jason. She gave a halfhearted chuckle and ran with him out of the room.

"Nice rescue by the way," Jason said as they ducked around a corner, "just top-notch."

"Did you find Cass and Selina?" she asked him.

"Cass yes, Selina no. But we're going after the latter."

"And Cass?"

"Running another mission."

The two of them continued west, heading for where Selina was being kept. But as they neared the door, enemies dropped down from above, surrounding them on both sides.

"Tired out yet?" Jason asked?

"Not even close."

But before they could cross blows with their opponents, Cass dropped down from above. Moving swiftly through the shadows, grabbing at their heads and pulling them from the back of the pack. A group of shadows had passed the steps and were now moving through the set of large, oak doors. They had to get to Selina. The doors were opening, they wouldn't make it in time. She signaled Jason, and the two of them rushed the remaining assassins, Cass backing them up. Then it was chaos.

They landed on top of a collection of shadows. They fought off as many as they could. Then they saw him.

Ra's al Ghul was standing in front of Selina. The doors had closed behind them.  
"Ah. My two young students. Run home, have you?" asked Ra's al Ghul.  
"No," said Cass. Jason didn't talk. He was on Ra's the second she said no. Bette stood on his other side. Jason had picked up a sword from a fallen assassin, and he and Ra's were clashing. Blade against blade. She attacked his unprotected side, but he always swiveled to defend. It was a hopeless battle. Cass moved to rescue Selina, but Talia appeared from the shadows and put her gun against her head. Bette tried to warn her, but she was knocked off her feet. Cass spun around to knock the gun away, but Talia caught her hand.  
"No," said Talia, smirking.

…

They lined her friends all up in a line. Her, Selina, Jason, and Cass were dumped in the dirt in front of them. Twelve bloody, defeated heroes on a godforsaken rock, in the middle of the sea, with hundreds of trained assassins surrounding them. In hindsight, they probably could have had a better plan than let's charge at them, get our family and run away. Not like it mattered now.

Ra's al Ghul stood in front of them, his very presence commanding attention. He looked old. His hair was gray with white streaks. Bette had never seen him without at least a few streaks of rich, dark black hair. She wondered why Ra's hadn't used the Lazarus pit to rejuvenate himself. Maybe he couldn't. The idea was strange, Bette couldn't think of reason as to why the pit wouldn't be working. But it certainly made sense.

"Well, well, well. It appears we managed to lure you back after all," said Ra's. He had a look of triumph on his face, "We had half of what we needed to save the League. To save its leadership. By coming here. Eight of you. To save three. You've given me the other half. Or, you will if you want your friends to remain alive." Ra's gestured to the four of them. Bette was still weak, Selina looked dazed, Jason angry, while Cassandra stared ahead, silent — nothing betraying her emotions.  
"As you probably know," continued Ra's, "I require information stored on a drive you posses. I don't want the archives of the Batcomputer, or the whole drive, I just want one set of coordinates. Does that seem like a fair deal for five lives?" It seemed fair to Bette, but what did Ra's want? "If five lives aren't enough, what do you say to a few million more?" The plot thickens, "I left a bomb in Gotham. A bit bigger than the one I used to blow up your cave. A nuclear bomb."

There was a sharp intake of breath from her friends. Carrie had gone pale. So had Dick.  
"Oh yes, a nuke. All those lives can be spared, for one teeny bit of information," finished Ra's.  
"If you're using nukes over this 'information', it sounds like it's pretty important. Why do you need it so badly?" asked Dick, but Ra's only smiled.  
"I asked a very simple question Mr. Grayson. Either tell Mr. Drake over that comm of yours to read off the coordinates to you, or we can fly back to Gotham while I cut open your friends. You can see where your city used to be before I kill you. I'll kill you last." Dick seemed at a loss for words, but Kate stepped up.  
"What's the information? The coordinates? We can know what to give you until you give us some more information," she said. Ra's smiled.  
"An excellent question Ms. Kane. I am seeking the coordinates to a small stretch of land, more of a rock really, not far from here that Batman once faced off against Vandal Savage on."  
"Why do you need those coordinates?" asked Kate.  
"That's my concern," replied Ra's.  
All eyes returned to stare at Dick Grayson. He was thinking hard, by the looks of him.  
"What'll it be Mr. Grayson?" asked Ra's with a quizzical look playing out across his face.  
"You said five," said Dick distractedly.  
"Excuse me?"  
"You said 'if five lives isn't enough how about a few million more'. Who else are you holding captive? Is Bruce…is Bruce alive?" Ra's seemed very interested in why Dick had thought to ask the question.  
"Dusan, bring out Bruce," ordered Ra's. Four shadows came out of a door to their left, wheeling a silver storage pod. They placed it down. Inside was Bruce's body. Bette saw Damian wipe a tear away with his glove. Maybe the kid did have a heart.  
Ra's removed his sword from his scabbard and opened the pod.

"I stabbed him here," said Ra's. He slid his sword into a hole right below Bruce's heart, "I killed him in one stroke. No, Grayson, the fifth life I was referring to is the life in there." Ra's pointed his sword at Selina, "She is with the departed Detective's next child. But, the poison she's experienced over the last forty hours has likely killed the baby. No one will be putting this one in a cape." Tears were streaming down Selina's face. That bastard.  
"Now Mr. Grayson, answer my question. I've been patient enough with you. The coordinates? Or death for all you love?" Ra's asked.

Dick was still for a long moment. Then he brought his finger to his comm, "Tim, give me the coordinates."

Bette slid to the ground as Dick gave Ra's the coordinates. Bruce looked so peaceful in the pod. He had never been peaceful while he was alive. Ra's ordered his troops to prepare for departure and signaled shadows to move his prisoners to their nearby plane.

"You said we'd get them back!" shouted Stephanie.  
"Of course," said Ra's, "but we'll have to get there first. You're welcome to follow. But, we need them as leverage until we get there." Ra's began to walk towards the plane with their family.  
"Wait," said Jason. Ra's stopped and turned to face him.

"Yes, Dumas?"

Jason lurched up, hitting the shadow who had been guarding him, slipping out of his bonds and pulling a device from his sleeve.

"You're gonna let us all go, and you're gonna get your nuke out of our city."

Ra's eyed the device in Jason's hand, "The explosives you stole from the armory. I assumed you've planted them?"

Jason nodded to Cass, "She placed them while we went after Selina. If you don't agree to my demands, I'll play this compound sky-high."

"With your friends inside?" Jason's expression changed for a second. Not enough to make it obvious, but his hesitation was enough for the Demon's Head to strike. Ra's swung around with his sword and sliced off Jason's arm. The limb landed with a thud in the grass as Jason collapsed, screaming through his gag. Blood splattered across Bette's cheek. Dick ran at Ra's, but Talia stepped in front of him and put a dagger to his throat. The shadows retrieved the explosive device from the limb.

"As a vote of confidence, I will allow you to take this one with you," announced Ra's, pointing at Jason, "he seems in need of medical attention. Follow us to the island, and we can exchange prisoners there once we confirm its legitimacy. If you continue to cooperate, not only will we give you your prisoners, but we will also have the nuke removed from your city." The shocked Batfamily surged forward and scooped up Jason. Her friends retreated to the plane. Shadows picker her up under the arms and began dragging her away. She watched as Talia let Dick go, but before he could return to the rest of the group Ra's said, "No Grayson, I'd love for you to ride up here with me."

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
Hey guys. Sorry this took an extra day, but I hope the doubled length is worth it. The thirteenth chapter will probably take two days as well. As for the fourteenth and the epilogue, the final chapters, I will be releasing these at the same time. The fourteenth chapter will probably be about as long as this but the epilogue…well, it's gonna be at least double this chapter. I won't say anything about it, but I will say that and the fourteenth chapter are going to take a long time. I'll probably get it out before this, but…let's just say you might have quite a bit of reading to do on Christmas morning. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! The story ain't over yet.**


	13. Descent (Dick)

**Descent**

"Your friend will be fine, you know," said Ra's as he sipped his tea. Dick sat in the seat across from him, fists clenched. "I once cut off your friend Roy Harper's arm, did I not? He's fine, or so my dear Cheshire would have me believe.  
"You seem to have a habit for maiming my friends," said Dick. Ra's chuckled, and sipped his tea. Dick continued to point his eyes in the direction of Ra's, but they were really staring through him. Through the cabin wall behind him. Through the thick walls of the plane. Towards the plane behind them where he knew Jason was bleeding on the cold metal floor.

They had been flying for the better part of three hours. Ra's had offered him tea, Dick had refused. Talia was holding Selina, Cass, and Bette hostage somewhere else in the plane. He didn't have a great sense for their location, but he knew they'd be safe. Ra's was a man of his word, and as long as Tim had given him the right location, they'd be alright. If only Jason hadn't been so fucking stupid.

"We have arrived," announced Ra's, as he took one final sip of his tea before getting up. He motioned for Dick to go in front. They both descended the steps of the plane, and Dick found his feet upon cold sand. Dick surveyed the island. It didn't look very special to him, but his eyes finally settled on the gaping mouth of a large cave. "Ah, so you've found it," said Ra's. He pointed at the cave mouth, "that is our destination, about a five-minute walk away." Dick searched for his friends, but didn't see them. "They are landing on another part of the island, best to keep everyone separate I think. Come."

Dick looked behind them as they walked away. Selina, Cass, and Bette were being walked in a different direction. A group of shadows stood on both sides of Dick as he and Ra's walked towards the cave. Some of the shadows were rolling a shrouded object with them. Dick wasn't sure what it was. While he had bigger things to worry about, Dick had to admit he was curious about what was in there. He'd find out soon.

They walked into the cave, only to discover what looked like an endless pit. Winding stairs that curved around a hollow passageway, that went straight down into what seemed to be the center of the earth. At the bottom Dick could see a faint green light.

"The god's eye, men have called it," said Ra's, nodding at the hole, "The descent will most likely take a few hours. Come now, Grayson, we have much more to discuss. Dick waited for Ra's to move down the steps, but he motioned for Dick to go in front, "You must forgive an old man, such as myself. I'm afraid I've been betrayed too many times before. If you would kindly go in front, I'd feel much better about you stabbing me in the back."  
"Should I have to worry about you stabbing me in the back?" asked Dick.

"Never. I always prefer a frontal attack."

The descent was slow going. He shuffled along in front with the shadows bringing up the rear. The shrouded object was banging along behind. Ra's talked, as he usually did. About his plans. About how his eco-terrorism wasn't such a bad thing. About how destroying Gotham would purify it. Dick had heard it all before. It was after two hours that he finally started talking with him instead of talking at him.

"I would never hurt Jason unless I had a good reason, you know," said Ra's. A likely story.

"I seem to remember you abusing him for four years."

Ra's smiled sadly, "You all seem to overlook the kindness I did the boy in bringing him back to life. The Joker had killed a sixteen-year-old boy with so much potential, my intent was only ever to please the Detective."

"I seem to remember a different version of events. One where you trained him to be an assassin and used your daughter to manipulate his emotions, turning him against us."

"He seems to have found his way back to you fine," Ra's sighed, "I didn't wish to take his arm, but the boy crossed me, and that was something I could not have."

Dick was silent the rest of the descent.

Dick felt dizzy when he reached the bottom. His final steps sent an echo across the chamber. He had fallen into a winding rhythm, slowly progressing down the great stone spiraling steps as Ra's talked on and on and on. He had to stop and catch his breath before looking around at the room. The stone was smooth on all sides. This area seemed to be radiating a rhythmic perfection. Magic, he knew. You have experience with that sort of thing when you've been in the capes business as long as he had. There were vines on the walls and water dripping down from above. Each drop in the pit made an echo throughout the large chamber. The pit, the source, lay in the center. To Dick, it looked like the Lazarus Pit he had seen before, on Infinity Island, but more…peaceful. It was a feeling that was hard to describe.

"Beautiful, no?" asked Ra's. Dick didn't respond. But it was certainly beautiful.

"All attempts at healing myself have failed, this pit will help me live to see the world in a more hopeful place," declared Ra's, as he stared into the green waters, "But I'm afraid my old body can no longer see me through," continued Ra's. Dick turned around at the sound if wheels hitting the stone floor, the shrouded object, Bruce's containment pod, was being wheeled toward them. "I'm afraid I have misled you, Grayson. For it is my intent to revive your beloved father's body. Just not his soul. The Detective's body shall hold mine."

Dick whirled around, "Ra's you can't do this!" he shouted as shadows restrained him.

"Young faithful Grayson… I thought you'd be happy? I'm frankly shocked at your anger towards this revival, were you hoping to take up The Detective's cowl?" asked Ra's, with a smug expression playing across his face. Dick elbowed the guard holding him on the left and made to run at Ra's, but another assassin sliced the back of his leg and brought Dick to his knees. Ra's sighed as he removed Bruce's body from the chamber, and dumped it on the ground. The shadows began chanting, in whispers, around the body. Some kind of magic, Dick had no doubt, to purge his father of a soul. Dick sat on the ground in silence as Bruce's body was lowered into the pit. Dick saw Ra's pick up his sword, "Would you care to do the honors Grayson," said Ra's, holding the sword out to him, "I'll have no need of this body, anymore." Dick made no move to grab the sword, just started up at Ra's with pain and anger in his eyes. "That's right, you won't kill anyone. Oh well, I'll do it myself." Ra's positioned the point of the sword on his heart, and drove it through. He fell backwards into the pit, with a splash.

The waters of the first Lazarus Pit bubbled, as Dick waited for the inevitable to happen. The shadow magic users were chanting again, louder than before. Even the assassins and guards around him were growing less alert, staring at the pit. Dick could have used the opportunity to escape, but why bother? Suddenly the chanting stopped. The entire world grew silent. For what felt like an hour, Dick sat there, staring at the still water of the pit. Then a hand broke the surface, and a roar sent sound back into the world. Dick's eyes traveled to Bruce, alive and climbing out of the pit. Assassins hurried forward to present him with his robes and sword. Bruce took a moment to survey the scene, then his eyes found Dick. But something was wrong. Those eyes were green. They were Ra's' eyes. Not Bruce's. Not his father's. Ra's walked over to him, and without a single word, he stabbed Dick.

"I told you, I always prefer a frontal attack," said Ra's. Dick fell sideways, and landed on the cold, perfect stone. _Not my father_ , was the last thing Dick thought before the world went black.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry this took so long, I underestimated how busy I would be at the end of the year. I'm afraid it may take another week to get the last two out, since the epilogue is very long, but I will release them together! I hope you guys liked this one, we're almost there.**


	14. Unity (Family)

**Unity**

Stephanie had already had to deal with enough medical business on this mission. She sat in the corner, throwing up into a bucket while everyone else was busy bandaging and cleaning Jason's arm. Tim was shouting over the speaker. Everyone was yelling. She was barfing. It was a great time. At some point she stopped throwing up, and everyone stopped yelling. The only sounds were Jason's shallow breathing and the conversation of the shadows piloting the plane. Eventually she got up and went over to Jason. His right arm had been sliced off at the elbow. "How you feeling, tough guy?" she asked.

"Great," said Jason. A smile played put across his face, and he began to laugh. Then she began to laugh. Then everyone in the plane began to laugh, except the assassin-pilots, who were very confused. They were all flying towards doom, but at least they were coming back together. Mostly.

She finally got a moment to sneak away to the back of the plane, and get in a private line with Tim.

"I thought getting captured wasn't part of the plan?" he said over the comm.

"Yeah, well, guess it could have gone better."

"You're gonna be okay. I've sent for help, and Ra's will release you when he gets what he wants."

"I know. Are… are you okay?"

Tim sighed from the other end, "Yeah, I'm okay."

There were tears in her eyes, "I have to fight back. We have to fight back."

"I don't want to see you hurt again."

"I know, but we have to keep fighting."

"Always. I'll do what I can from here."

Well shit, here it goes, "I love you, Tim."

"I love too, Steph. Always have, always will."

She hung up the call. It was too much. She put on her bravest face, it was time to act.

…

Bruce was dead. Now Tommy was like to join him. Their second child. They had been trying for so long, and she had been going to tell him the night he died. Now Talia had killed Tommy, or Martha, or whoever. Their baby. She had killed their baby. Just as Ra's had killed her husband. When she passed out from the poison, she has dreamed of cutting across Talia's throat with her claws. The warm blood would wash over her hands, and her family would be avenged. Selina could not wait to make that a reality.

"Move," muttered the shadow to her, pressing his sword into her back. She hissed at him, an old habit, and kept walking. Talia was up ahead, and she, Cass, and Bette were being moved towards the camp that shadows had made.

"On your knees," Talia said to them as they were forced to their knees by the shadows.

"I told you what would happen the next time we met, bitch," Selina said to Talia, "are you prepared for death?"

Talia laughed, "There is no death here, kitty cat. Only rebirth."

Selina wasn't sure what that meant.

...

Dick watched as the man who wasn't his father climbed the stairs. His blood was spilling out onto the perfect stone, staining it where no water or lazarus had. The shadows had been quick to abandon him. He was left lying there, a discarded tool that had outlived its usefulness. Nineteen years of fighting had all led to this. He thought of everyone he was leaving behind. Barbara, Jamie, Mar'i, Damian, Kori, everyone. What a way to go out.

The cooling, dead body of Ra's al Ghul lay next to him. He imagined Bruce's soul floating around down there in the pit, discarded for Ra's just as easily as he had his own body. Slowly disappearing into nothingness, forgotten. All the faces disappearing as he bled out into the water. This couldn't be it. It wouldn't be it. He had to try. He had to keep fighting.

It took all his strength, But Dick slowly scooted towards the edge of the pit, and slipped into the regenerative waters.

…

Helena jerked away from the shadow's arm as she was forced down onto the sand. Damian was on her left, Stephanie on her right. Her mother, Bette, and Cass were all situated a few yards away. She didn't want to shout out, but she made eye contact with her mother. She smiled at her. Helena smiled back.

"What are we waiting for? Did your master get what he needed?" asked Kate, annoyed.

"The Demon's Head will return shortly," said Damian's bitch of a mother. The one who had killed her brother. Still processing that. Her father was dead, something Babs hadn't told her, and the brother she would never get to have was gone too.

She didn't want to accept the reality she was in. But she was determined not to lose the family she had left. She clasped hands with her brother. For once, he reciprocated.

...

Barbara was getting restless. Alfred was holding Jamie while her hands raced across the keyboard. ARGUS was inbound to help escort the Bats off the island, but they'd take another hour to get there. She trusted that Ra's would let her family go when he had what he wanted, but she wasn't so sure she wanted Ra's to have whatever he was after.

Tim was hard at work on the computer to her right. He'd called Steph on her comm earlier, and she'd caught a few snippets of their conversation. Dire times seemed to bring people together. She was happy for them. She just hoped they'd make it back to each other.

Her thoughts kept turning to Dick. She knew he could take care of himself, but still. He'd gone with Ra's personally, and who knows what had happened since then. They'd gone off in a different direction that the rest of the prisoners.

Titus whined beneath her desk. She reached down to pet him.

"We have to do something," Tim said to Barbara.

"We can't lose them again, Tim," she said, "they've already failed twice."

"We agreed to act. The shadows took Bruce from us, took his son. Are we really gonna let them walk away? Or are we gonna do something about it?"

Tim was right. No matter the danger, they had to do something. She just prayed they'd all see each other again.

…

Dick loved the feeling of flying through the air. The way his heart stopped beating for a second until his hand caught the next ring. He'd been raised with the circus, always moving around from city to city. He'd never really had a hometown to know. But up above? That was Dick's home. He and his family's.

His father and mother were like streaks of light, zipping by him as they helped each other through the sky. His mother's hands would catch his father's, and her legs would catch the next ring. His father would let go, and his mother would swing him on and on to the next, with him right beside.

If only he had told them about the man. The suspicious behavior the night before. Someone might have checked the rings again, or they might have put up a net just to be safe. But the rings snapped all the same, and his parents fell six stories to their deaths, screaming.

He'd wanted the circus to keep him. A rich man in a dark suit he'd never met wanting to take him in had been scary. But Mr. Wayne had convinced Haly that sending Dick to him was the best option. The house had been big, dark and full of secrets. But Alfred always had a fire going, and there was always lots of food on the table.

He'd taken notice of Mr. Wayne's absence almost immediately. It didn't take him long to discover there was something going on with him. But he didn't delve too deep into the matter, he had another investigation to worry about.

The search for his parents' killer had led to Tony Zucco, an old henchman of Maroni trying to keep the mob together after his boss' death. Dick was prepared to kill him for what he did, but before he could go down that path, Mr. Wayne had shown him his other life. He was Batman. The vigilante that everyone had been on about. He had found another way to seek justice, a better way, and he was prepared to show Dick how.

Those had been the hardest six months of his life. But when Dick set his mind on something, he was going to follow through. When the moment finally came, on the night of his final test, he spared Zucco's life and sent him off to jail. That was the night that Bruce had made him his partner. Christmas Eve. He'd chosen the name Robin for the nickname his mother had called him by. He always did love flying through the air.

…

Jason was in a lot of pain right now. Like, yeah, he'd gotten his arm cut off, but he'd also just seen the dead body of the man who had raised him. Who had brought him off the darker path, twice. He was eyeing up the shadows, wondering who he'd kill first, when Tim's voice came over the comm that he'd forgotten about.

"Everyone, listen to me very carefully, make no move that you've heard me. Do not respond."

Jason looked at each of the shadows in turn, but no one made any indication that they could hear Tim. "I've tapped into the guards' frequencies," Tim continued, "I don't know what, but something big is gonna go down. When certain shadows peel off, attack. Now is not the time for caution. It's time to avenge Bruce."

…

Cassandra may have had her comm taken away long ago, but she had not forgotten how to read people. She would never forget that. Her family was preparing for an attack. She could see the determination in their eyes. Their clenched fists. Their heads that were poised as if listening to something no one else could hear. Cassandra had rid herself of her bonds long ago, and so had Bette and Selina. But she had to wait for the others. They had to attack together, or all hope was lost.

…

"Now," said Tim. The word hung over everyone as they watched six shadows moving towards a boat. Then Damian set it off. The rage that was inside all of them. He let out a roar, almost animal like. It was not a battle cry. He was just screaming. In rage. In pain. He let it all out as he drew his hidden dagger across the throat of the nearest assassin. Then his sister was tossing him a sword she had stolen from another shadow, and he was off. Leading the rest of his family in an attack against the assassins. The shadows fell in great numbers. Damian whirled around, slicing and cutting towards Talia. He was fighting to kill. Selina was on Talia first, drawing claws across her neck. Talia fell to the ground, dead. Damian surveyed the scene. Only his family stood victorious in the sea of fallen shadows.

"I'm sorry for killing your mother Damian. But I made a promise," said Selina, putting her hand on his shoulder. The pain in her eyes was something he was feeling too.  
"The only mother I have truly known stands before me now," he proclaimed. Selina drew him into a fierce hug. Then Helena was there. Then they were all there, hugging, in their bloody, tattered costumes. Damian would not lose family again, not while he still drew breath.

…

When the girl had starting dressing up in her own 'Batgirl' costume, he and Bruce had gone to shut Ms. Gordon down. Of course, she didn't listen. Wasn't really her style. Dick took her under his wing. He'd been Robin two years, and considered himself qualified enough to give her proper training. They'd bonded over that. She'd been the first girl he'd ever kissed. Of course Bruce wasn't happy when he found out, but Alfred and him were able to convince him to give Batgirl a chance. By year's end, Babs had become a full-fledged member of their little family.

Things had been good for the next five or so years. He met Wally and Garth, and they founded the Teen Titans together. He'd met Starfire, and they'd had a long relationship. But every girl he dated over the years, Kori, Zatanna, Kara, none of them compared to Babs. But when he and Bruce had a falling out, so did he and Barbara. And when he'd needed a place to stay, Kori had offered.

That relationship hadn't ended well. Babs had gotten shot, and he'd gone running to be by her side. Kori took the opportunity to visit her home world, an adventure she didn't return from for several years. Only a few months after Barbara's shooting, Jason had died. It had been the longest week of his life, and of Bruce's. Everyone had searched from top to bottom. The Batfamily scoured Europe, and Superman and the Flash ran literal circles around the world looking for him. But they hadn't gotten there in time.

The fallout had brought him and Babs back together. It brought everyone a little closer together. Except for Bruce. He pushed everyone away, even his wife and newborn daughter. It was Tim who saved him. Bruce needed a Robin, someone to balance him out. Tim helped take the edge off. Bruce's self-imposed exile ended, and the dynamic duo was reborn.

Through all the adventures of the last eight years, the Cataclysm, moving to Bludhaven, becoming Batman, helping to raise Damian during Bruce's disappearance, discovering he had a secret daughter, marrying Babs - it was always his family that had been there to support him. The one he had wanted to reject when he started out. Alfred, Babs, Jamie, Mar'i, Damian, Kori, Tim, Jason, Cass, Helena, Selina, Steph, Kate, Bette, Harper, and Carrie were the people he couldn't lose.

Dick could feel Bruce's presence there, urging him to fight back, to get back to his family. He was still there in the abyss. He could be saved. But not if Dick died too. He focused on the faces of his loved ones. He focused on Bruce. He'd do it for them. He'd keep on fighting.

…

Ra's al Ghul, in the body of the Detective, heard Grayson roar as he lunged out of the pit three hundred feet below.

A concerned shadow turned to him, "Great one, should we stop him?"

The Demon's Head smiled, "It doesn't matter. It's too late."

They neared the mouth of the cave, and sunlight passed over Bruce Wayne's body.

…

Helena stopped short next to him, "Dad?" she asked, barely a whisper. But Damian knew better.

"That's not him," he replied flatly. Drawing his sword, he walked over to face his grandfather. "This is why you wanted?" Damian asked.

"My own body has become rather weak after several centuries of exposure. The Lazarus Pit located below this island has a less degrading healing quality. It is from the very meteorite that gave Vandal Savage his immortality fifty thousand years ago."

"Why my father's body?" Damian asked. The whole family was on edge beside him. Seeing Bruce alive again, with a different mind inside, was not something they had prepared for. Damian heard the sound of choppers overhead. Had help come?

"I'd always wanted the Detective to be my heir. I figured that ending our long feud and taking his body for my own would be… poetic," Ra's finished.

"Poetic…" Damian said through gritted teeth, "you murdered my father… because it was poetic? I'm gonna kill you."

Damian lunged at his grandfather, who sidestepped him and forced Damian to run straight into the shadows. More of the League was dropping down from above. Thousands of them, all around. The whole League of Shadows had come to pay respect to their master's new form, or at least it seemed so.

They were doing what they could against such terrible odds. Cass was letting loose all the fury she had been cooped up with for the past few hours. Jason was backing her up as best he could with his missing appendage. Helena was fighting alongside Steph. Harper and Carrie were standing their ground. Kate and Bette had fallen back.

Damian fought his way towards his grandfather.

"Where were we," he muttered, lunging at Ra's. Their blades clashed again and again. A sea of sparks and steel that filled the evening air. Damian was losing the battle. He couldn't hope to win against someone with about six hundred years of experience more than him, not alone. And his family had disappeared into the mess of shadows. Ra's seemed to take note of this.

"It seems your family has abandoned you, my child. How can you hope to defeat me alone?"

"He's not alone." Damian turned to see Selina standing there, claws out. "My claws are still wet with the blood of your daughter, Ra's. Now, time to kill you for killing my husband."

Ra's growled and lunged at Selina, and Damian was there to back her up.

Then there were all there, together, pushing the shadows back and forcing Ra's toward the ledge inside the cave.

"Enough!" Ra's shouted, swinging his sword in an arc in front of him, grazing Damian above the eyebrow. Ra's pulled out a device from his cloak, clamping his thumb down on the trigger. "This is the dead man's switch," spoke Ra's flatly, "it's connected to the nuclear bomb hidden in your city." Damn. The GCPD had been searching for the bomb since the Batfamily got back to Gotham, but nothing had turned up. "If my thumb comes off the trigger your city will be destroyed, If you allow me to get to a safe distance, the signal will disconnect and your city will be spared. But you must cease this nonsense at once."

"I'm on it, I'm on it," Gordon spoke in his ear, Drake shouting in the background. They were going to attempt to disarm the switch.

"We need to distract him," said Grayson over the comms. Dick. He was alive. He heard Gordon breath a sigh of relief from her end. "Bruce is still in there somewhere. I felt his presence in the Lazarus Pit-"

"You were in the what?"

"We'll talk about it later, honey. Anyway, I think if we can connect to Bruce in there, we can buy enough time for Babs and Tim to disarms the device."

Understood.

"Father. I speak directly to you now," Damian said. Ra's paused. "When your annoying adoptive son disrupted the League of Shadows' operations as Red X, I was sent to live with you by my mother to disrupt your operations in turn."

Ra's smiled, "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but it won't work."

"I felt a need to prove myself as soon as I got there. You had seemed to have acquired a large set of sons already, and as your bastard I felt the need to show how capable I was. I put Drake in the hospital, I stole Todd's old Robin suit to beat up criminals in, and I broke my sister's arm. When you found out, you weren't angry. You simply explained to me how things were, that I didn't need to prove myself. I began to care for you, really. So much that it hurt when I thought you were gone. That's when I really began to connect to my family. To Grayson, to my _mother_ , to my sister. I found my place, and it's all thanks to you. I don't want to see you leave. Please com back to us, father. _Dad_."

Todd stepped forward.

"Oh not you too," said Ra's, rolling his eyes.

"Bruce, when you found me I was just a lost kid who'd never had a family. Much less a father figure. You gave me a mission, a purpose. Stopped me from going down the dark path. Even when I died, and I came back angry at you, you understood. Saved me from that path again. You never gave up on me. Your door was always open. I- I'm sorry it took so long for me to find my way home. I'm not gonna give up on you Bruce, come back to us."

His sister was next.

"These efforts are futile," muttered Ra's.

Ignoring him, Helena began, "Growing up, I knew my dad was Batman. But what I loved is that you never forced me into this life. You made me aware of the dangers and the price that came with playing hero. It was my choice. This crazy legacy, and you let me find my own place in it. I've always idolized you, Dad, and I don't wanna see some old asshole destroy the city you loved using your body. You gotta fight back Dad, for us."

Brown took a shaky breath, and began to speak, "Look Bruce, I just kind of forced myself into this crusade. I was just a really cool gal that Tim and Cass happened to work with, and you just kind of mildly allowed it. I was reckless and I made mistakes, and despite your anger you always forgave me. When you disappeared, I tried to take up the Batgirl identity to become a real part of your family. But when you came back, you helped me realize that I didn't have to force myself into a role to be a part of your family, you accepted me for who I was. That meant a lot. I don't wanna see you lose to this maniac, Bruce. You've gotta fight through it. After everything you've been through, you can get through this."

"We're almost there, keep him busy!" shouted Gordon from the comm. Ra's had stopped making attempts to dissuade their attempts to reach him. His were closed, and he had a pained expression on his face, almost as if he were trying to force a thought into the back of his mind. Kate, Bette, Harper, and Carrie continued to fight off the shadows behind them.

Cain stood up, "I was never taught the ways of life, or love, or family. For the first eight years of my life, I was taught to kill. No more. When I ran from the death I had caused, I eventually ended up in Gotham. It was a bad time to be in Gotham. The Cataclysm had hit and Bane was running the show. The city was in no more need of death or pain. It needed justice. Your symbol taught me that value, and it taught me that I could use my skills to spread that justice to a city that was hurting. When it was all over, you took me. You fed me, clothed me, gave me a family. You taught me how to speak, read, and write. The life, love, and family I'd always wanted? You gave it to me. That family needs you now, Bruce. You need to fight off Ra's' influence and come back to us. We believe in you."

Mother took her turn next, "Bruce. I was nothing when I met you. A young girl in a catsuit trying to steal money from Carmine Falcone, just for the hell of it. For the thrill. Over the next seven years, you convinced me there was more to life. That there was love. When you asked me to turn myself in, so we could have a life together, I did it without hesitating. Three years later, we were married, we had a little baby girl, and I had to watch you go through the hardest time of your life. Your son died, and I couldn't save you. But your boys did. They're love for you pulled you back from the darkness. That's when I really began to love Dick, and Tim, and even Jason and Damian later on. I married my way into your crazy world of capes and masks, and I never thought I'd fit in. But we're all part of a family together, and we don't want to lose you. Come back from this Bruce, I know you can."

Suddenly, Grayson emerged from the winding staircase, his suit torn. He turned to face Ra's.

"Bruce. We're your family, and we love you. We've always been stronger together. Picture our faces, the love you have for us. Focus on that, come back to us."

At last, Ra's al Ghul opened his eyes - but they weren't green, they were blue. Father's eyes, Bruce's eyes.

"We've done it!" shouted Drake over the comms, "The switch is disarmed."

Grayson wrestled the switch from his adopted father's hand, and the continued cheering from across the line seemed to confirm that Gotham City was still intact.

Father wasn't back though, not yet. He was fighting Ra's off. He turned to Grayson, and an understanding passed between them.

"Do it," father said. Grayson pushed him with one hand, and he fell back down into the depths of the Lazarus Pit.

"What did you do?! We had him back," yelled Helena. Damian pushed her for being annoying.

"Not quite, Hel. But Bruce is still in the pit, just as a little of him was left in Ra's. The process wasn't completed. It's now up to Bruce and Ra's to fight for who gets the body," Grayson stopped to take a breath, "Whoever's will is the strongest takes over. Let's just hope Bruce can beat him."

"Where'd you figure all this out exactly?" asked his mother.

"Took a dip in the pit myself. Ra's uh… ran me through with his sword. While I was in there, Bruce's aura kind of… I don't know, spoke to me?"

"YOU GOT STABBED?" shouted Gordon over the comm, "Are you alright?"

"He's fine," grumbled Damian's sister, "Come on, let's get down there!" She raced towards the stairs, but Grayson stopped her.

"No, no, no. I'm not traversing those goddamn stairs for a third time," he said, grabbing the grapnel gun from Damian's belt. He shot the bolt into the ceiling and jumped down. Helena followed, then himself. The others came after.

...

"Why aren't the shadows following us?" asked Bette as she landed on the smooth, stone floor.

"They're waiting to see who emerges," replied Kate darkly.

Dick couldn't think of a more accurate statement. Whoever emerged would be the Demon's Head. Whether it was Bruce or Ra's, it wouldn't matter to the shadows.

He watched the water of the pit bubble as he sat there, waiting. Everyone was waiting. Waiting to see who would emerge. The others on the comms were waiting. Even Jamie was silent over the line.

Bruce Wayne's body burst through the surface of his pit. Dick watched him wade his way over to the edge, and pull himself out. The lazarus waters dripped down his body. From his hands onto the perfect stone floor. From his hair into his cool, blue eyes. Blue eyes.

Bruce was back.

Dick was the first to reach him, pulling him into a fierce hug. The others were quick to follow. Selina kissed her husband. Damian and Helena hugged their father tightly. Kate and Bette pulled their cousin into a bear hug. Harper and Steph got the memo. Jason and Cass joined in too. Babs, Alfred, and Tim were all cheering again. He even heard Jamie laugh.

Bruce was back. They had done it. They had won. Ra's al Ghul was forever lost to the waters of the Lazarus Pit. All the pain he'd caused them would not be repeated. Their family was safe.

It was a minute later that Bruce finally spoke.

"I'm glad to be back." Amen. "Wait… JASON DID YOU LOSE AN ARM?"

"What? Oh, that," Jason looked at his missing appendage, "yeah that kind of happened."

"The Lazarus waters may not be able to replace a lost limb, but they might be able to help with the pain-" began Bruce.

"No. Look… I'm happy it healed you and all, but I've had enough of those pits for any number of lifetimes."

Bruce nodded, "Well it seems like I've missed a lot. How long?"

"Nearly five days," said Selina. There was sadness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry I was gone," said Bruce. He kissed her.

"Well, to be fair it couldn't really be helped," said Helena, "we forgive you."

"Just like that?" Bruce asked with a raised eyebrow.

Helena's expression turned cross, "No not just like that," she hit her father, lovingly - probably, "you died. You left me, you left us. You're not supposed to do that." She buried her face into her father's cape, "Uncool move," she said in a muffled voice.

Bruce hugged her, "You all brought me back." He looked at each of them in turn, "Thank you."

"Any time," said Dick, "So… how about we head upstairs?"

…

The League of Shadows were all kneeling in the sand, awaiting the return of the Demon's Head. When he emerged, they all stood, raising their swords and cheering. The man who was recognized as the Demon's Head was really Bruce Wayne, her husband, back from the dead. He quickly signaled the shadows to be quiet.

"Hear me shadows, for I am the Demon's Head," she'd seen better improv from him, but they could work with it, "I have decided to make a major change to our operation, for I have been enlightened by the first Lazarus Pit."

Damian tapped Bruce on the shoulder, "Father, before you do this, consider my proposal."

"No, Damian."

"These guys will listen to whatever you say. I could get them to be our own personal Bat-army. I'm telling you, _Batman, Incorporated_. Eh? How's that sound?"

" _No_ , Damian."

"Tt."

Bruce continued, "I have decided to disband the League of Shadows. Our talents could be better suited for public organizations like ARGUS in this new age. Those who would desert us now are not true shadows."

Some deserted, many did not. Selina heard choppers overhead.

"Pfft, finally," she scoffed.

While they waited for the choppers to land, Selina sat down on the sand with Bruce. Damian put his head on her shoulder, Helena put hers in her father's lap. Everyone settled down around them. It had been a long couple of days, but they had persevered.

"We will have to talk eventually," she said to her husband, "things have happened over the past few days. A lot, a lot has happened." She gently laid her hand on the spot where their child had once been growing,

"I know," he responded, eyeing Jason's missing arm, "but for now, let's just sit."

Selina had no objections. Their adventures had lasted through the night, and dawn was beginning to break over the horizon.

"It's a new day."

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **So it's been a minute. Sorry about the extra year it took for me to push this out, I was only getting a couple words done a day. All jokes aside, I wanted to come back to this story with a bang. Since this fic was very much cobbled together over a period of three years, I wanted it to have a more cohesive and complete vision when it was all said and done. So I've gone back and redone the old chapters. That's why the numbering is a little different, there are some new POV chapters. There's also been a couple continuity changes with characters and relationships and such. I'll let you read through to discover that. If you're a new reader who is reading this story after it was complete, then you can ignore what I'm saying. Also, hi. Is the future cool? Anyhow, I've really enjoyed telling this story and I love the versions of the characters that I've come up with. I do feel that this fic was very action driven. I think I got some great character moments in there, but the actual fic didn't totally delve into all of the characters as much as the themes of love and family themselves. I've presented a world that I want to tell more stories in. To delve into those characters. I've set up a lot of stories, past and future. No promises as to the what and when, but this isn't the last you'll see of my Batfamily.**

 **Alright, that about covers it. Thanks to the old readers for sticking with me and hello to the new ones. Without further ado, enjoy the epilogue...**


	15. Epilogue (Bruce)

**DISCLAIMER: If you're an old viewer clicking on the new chapter, confused as to why it's the epilogue - I redid all the chapters and changed the structure a bit. The original Chapter 14 you read is now Chapter 13, and the current Chapter 14 is the 'final chapter'. You can find out more about these changes at the end of Chapter 14, and can reread if you want to discover them all.**

 **Epilogue**

 _ **December 24th, 2023. Nearly five years later.**_

Selina had never gotten up early. She stayed awake all night, and slept through the morning. But Bruce had always been an early riser. Old habits die hard. Nearly five years of going to bed without having to take bloody body-armor off first had allowed him to regain some sleep, but he would always be up before the sun. In the winter months the sun did not rise till 7:00 AM, especially so soon after the winter solstice. He woke up at five o'clock, and yet, he would remain under a dark sky for another two hours. Bruce was used to the darkness, but he had been able to come into the light these past few years. His family had pulled him out of _the_ inescapable darkness, and he had walked away a free man. Yet, some part of him had died that day in the cold dark pit of the ancient island. For so long he had seen love as his only weakness, but now, he knew that might not be such a bad thing. He had made an effort the last five years to connect with all members of his family. He knew having one was not a weakness for him anymore. It was his greatest strength.

Bruce found himself visiting his past less and less as the years went on, but each year, as he was granted yet another Christmas with his family, he made an effort to pay his respects. He knew that the rest of the household wouldn't be up and about till 9 am. Except maybe Damian, who had become a _very_ late sleeper in his teenage years, and would sleep till lunch. Alone in the darkness of the sprawling penthouse, Bruce slipped out the door. He took the elevator down to the first floor, and stepped out. He waved to Mack, his security guard, and went over to his selection of cars. He picked a small black car for his drive, nothing extravagant was necessary. He got in and turned on the car, then he backed out of the garage. He had a long drive ahead of him. It would take ten minutes to reach the city, and then Kane County was on the opposite side of Gotham. But the drive always cleared his mind.

He put all the windows down as he sped along the empty road. The air was cold, but his years in the cape and cowl had certainly taught him endurance. The quiet noise of the early morning became filled with the sounds of the city he knew so well, with Bruce joining the early commuters as he entered Gotham. He enjoyed the smells of his city. They made him feel at home. Even if he didn't visit here that often anymore, it would always truly be _his_ city. Though the smells of his city were suppressed by the artificial ones of the new face of Gotham. Powers' plan for the new city was not a new one. Many people had pitched such ideas over the years. Gotham was just a city built on top of an old one, and people wanted a new one. But the problem with layers was that you always had sinister things stirring under the ground. They'd learned that from the Court of Owls.

Bruce made it onto Mountain Drive a half hour later, making his way towards the towering fence at the top of the old winding road. He parked his car next to a tree that he didn't think had been there the previous year, and got out. Making his way over to security door, Bruce inserted the key into the lock and entered. Greenery had begun to make its way into the ruined and crumbling mass of land. Death always bred new life. He passed a few bottles and cigarettes on the ground as he made his way over to the mansion. Damn kids. The house had survived somewhat. Fragments of the west wing still stood as well as the main entrance hall, though missing its roof. Then of course, there were the graves.

Miraculously, they had survived. They stood defiantly against the wind and snow of winter. Bruce made his way over to them. They were like a path of death that shadowed him as he walked the path of life. The first, the greatest tombstone of the lot, belonged to his parents. Bruce used to wonder if they would've been proud of what he'd done, but he tried to put that out of his mind these days. Nevertheless, they would always be the reason he had started this. Next came Jason, whose fate had been his greatest failure. While the boy was alive today, his death had pushed Bruce to his breaking point. Then came Tommy. Not one person had expected the baby to survive, after what Talia had done to Selina, but the stillbirth had been painful all the same. Some nights, when Bruce couldn't fall asleep, the image of the small baby that had never gotten a breath of life would come to him — and he would wonder once again what it would be like if Tommy had lived. Finally, there was Alfred. It had been sad to see his oldest friend go, his father figure. But he had lived a full life, and his end was peaceful.

Bruce heard the door open across the yard. He turned around and saw Selina striding towards him.

"I didn't wake you did I?" Bruce asked.

"No," said Selina, sitting down beside him, "but I knew where you would be this morning."

"I'm a creature of habit I guess," said Bruce. The two of them sat there, looking at the graves. A light snow began to fall. Bruce looked up, smiling, "Maybe we'll get a white Christmas. The kids will be happy." A smiled played out across Selina's countenance as she looked up.

"Yes they will."

They didn't say much after that. The two of them just sat there for a while. Remembering.

"We should be getting back," said Selina as she stood up, wiping the snow from her lap.

"Let's drive back together. We can come get your car later."

"We can come get _your_ car later. I'm driving."

"Very well," he said. Bruce knew better than to argue with his wife. The two of them left the mansion behind them, the ghost of family that had once been shrouded in darkness.

It took longer to get back than it had to get there. Gothamites were beginning to wake, and relatives were driving into the city while the residents of Gotham drove off to the airport to go visit their family. Bruce was happy to have everyone visiting this year. Tim and Stephanie had been on their honeymoon the year before, and they hadn't made it. Plus, Kate and Maggie had spent the holidays with Kate's dad. But everyone had made an effort to come this year. It was nice for Bruce. By the time they were out of the city, the sun had begun to creep over the hills. It shone on the windows of their penthouse as they drove up.

When they entered, they discovered that several members of the family were up. Kate was making coffee while Maggie carried around their child, trying to put her back to sleep.

"Hey guys," she said quietly, accepting a cup of coffee from her wife, before taking Amelia into the next room.

Kate walked over to them, "Seems like you guys might have bought enough food to feed an army."

"Well, in that case it might be just enough to feed all the hungry kids in this house," he joked.

"You should go check on them, I think they just got back," said Selina.

Bruce nodded, and proceeded to the elevator that would take him down to the new Batcave. Well, only Batcave. But over all these years, he hadn't stopped calling it new.

Bruce entered the cave to find the three teens arriving home. Tim had agreed to take the holidays off so the three young ladies could take charge of watching the city. Helena arrived on her bike, just ahead of Tiffany. Mar'i flew in after them, landing with a squeal.

"We stopped Two Face, Killer Croc, and the new Clayface. All three!"

"Sounds like it went well," said Bruce.

"It was a successful operation," said Helena, removing her domino mask.

"It was frickin' awesome, that's what it was," said Tiffany proudly.

"Well it sounds like you girls had an exciting night," proclaimed Bruce, "consider yourselves off-duty."

The three of them headed for the changing rooms.

Bruce walked over to where Tim's batsuit was stored. It had been a scary decision, giving up the identity after so many years, but he'd always known Tim would be the most capable successor. He'd filled the role well, and Gotham City had been safe for years under their new Batman.

"Regretting leaving it behind?" asked Tim, walking up behind Bruce.

"Just remembering," Bruce smiled, "You sleep well?"

"Pretty damn well. Half the reason I come here is for the beds."

"And the food, too," said Bruce, putting his arm around Tim.

"Yeah… that too."

They went upstairs to help with the cooking. If there's one thing Alfred could have never prepared them for when he died, it was the cooking. Without his help, things still took about twice as long - even three years later. Still, Bruce, Selina, Dick, Kori, Tim, Steph, Kate, Maggie, Luke, and Bette did what they could to prepare brunch as fast as possible.

Helena emerged from below.

"Can you go wake up your brother, Hel?" asked Selina.

"With pleasure," said Helena, smiling menacingly.

"What have you done," said Bruce, shaking his head and smiling as Damian's shouts were heard from upstairs.

"Wanna go round up the others?" she asked him. Bruce said yes and walked away to gather the family.

Jason was currently sitting on the couch, a cup of Kate's coffee in his good hand while his robotic arm shot out colorful sparks, something Jamie and Jackson were enjoying very much.

"Time to eat," said Bruce.

"But when do we get to open presents?" Jamie whined.

"That's tomorrow morning."

"But Daddy always lets us open one present on Christmas Eve," Jackson pointed out.

"Hey kids," said Jason, putting his hands on their shoulder, "maybe if you go eat now, you'll get to open a present tonight."

Their mission confirmed, the two youngsters raced towards the table. Jason got up and stretched. He had been growing out a beard recently. To be honest, Bruce wasn't a fan.

"See you in a sec," he said, patting Jason on the shoulder.

Cass and Harper were obsessing over Halie, who sat on her mother's lap, blinking as if unsure it was supposed to be here. Babs was smiling as Cass stroked the baby's hair, but she looked tired. The pregnancy had taken a lot out of her, and she clearly didn't really want to be here. Bruce hoped the visit would raise her spirits.

"Brunch is ready," he said.

"Aw, does the baby wanna go watch us eat people food?" asked Harper, letting go of the baby.

"Mama needs some people food," commented Barbara.

Bruce turned to get Carrie, but saw her walking over with Helena, Mar'i, Tiffany, and Damian.

"He's up!" Bruce announced to the room as Damian begrudgingly took his seat.

They had all gathered around the table, with Duke and Cullen being the last to take their seats. Food was passed around, and conversation began.

"She's so beautiful, Babs. I'm so happy for you and Dick, really," Selina proclaimed as she obsessed over the newborn Grayson. "What about you, Jamie?" turning to the young girl, who was trying to stuff a bagel through her mouth, "You excited to have a little sister?"

"I'm over it," she said through the bagel.

"Halie cries a lot. Especially when I'm trying to sleep," said Jackson, disgruntled.

"They love her," said Dick, smiling and patting his son on the head.

"Yes, well… there's another baby coming to the family, isn't there Steph?" Barbara asked excitedly.

"Yes there is," Steph said, smiling. Tim put his arm around her shoulder. The news had come at Thanksgiving, and the family was still abuzz with the news.

"When are you due?" asked Duke.

"August 11th… which is my birthday. Kinda hoping the baby doesn't come then."

"I'm betting it'll be early," said Tim.

"Do you think this pregnancy will be as easy as last time?" Kate asked.

"Well… Tim made a great Lamaze coach last time, so if he can put that effort in again it should be smooth sailing." There was a chorus of laughter from around the table.

"Attaboy, Tim," said Jason, to more laughter.

"So, Harper. I hear you and Duke are moving in together…" said Kori.

"Yes we are," said Harper, smiling and taking Duke's hand, "taking the next step."

"That's so good to hear. I'm happy for you guys," said Luke.

"We all are," Bruce corrected.

"Yes well, I'm not. My sister's abandoning me. I knew it would happen eventually," said Cullen with feigned despair.

"Aw, you'll be fine," said Harper, patting her brother on the back.

"Aren't you moving in with your boyfriend, Row?" asked Damian.

"Yes," replied Harper and Cullen. They laughed.

"Next semester, yeah," answered Cullen, chuckling.

"One of you needs to leave or it's gonna get confusing," warned Damian.

"Or you could call people by their proper names," suggested Helena.

"Never."

As the conversation went on, Selina turned to Bruce. They smiled, and held each other's hands. These were the moments they lived for now. No talk of capes, just of life, love, and family. The things that had brought him back. Nearly five years before, they had a brunch just like this one, and then everything went to hell. But his family brought him back. Through all the pain and loss, they had persevered. Even if everything went to hell again tomorrow, Bruce knew they'd be okay. Because they had each other, and that would never change.

…

Bruce got halfway through _Twas The Night Before Christmas_ that night before the last of his family drifted off. He sat there for a while, his arms tucked around his wife and children. Dick still had his head in his wife's lap, his kids resting in his. Kate and Maggie shared Amelia on the next couch over. Tim and Steph were cuddled together on the love seat. Cass had her head on Jason's shoulder. Kori had dozed off stroking her daughter's hair next to the tree. Harper sat with Duke and Cullen on the couch next to his. Bette and Luke were on the floor, their eggnog spilled on the rug. Carrie had her arm around Tiffany.

They were all so peaceful.

It had been a good day. It had been many good days. Bruce hoped for more.

 **Everyone's ages in this Epilogue:**

 **Bruce Wayne: 51**

 **Selina Wayne: 49**

 **Maggie Sawyer: 44**

 **Kate Kane: 43**

 **Barbara Grayson: 38**

 **Koriand'r: 37**

 **Dick Grayson: 36**

 **Bette Kane/Batwoman: 34**

 **Luke Fox/Batwing: 32**

 **Jason Todd/Red Hood: 31**

 **Cassandra Cain/Black Bat: 26**

 **Tim Drake/Batman: 26**

 **Stephanie Brown/Spoiler: 26**

 **Harper Row/Bluebird: 22**

 **Duke Thomas/Lark: 22**

 **Cullen Row: 20**

 **Carrie Kelley/Catgirl: 20**

 **Damian Wayne/Nightwing: 18**

 **Mar'i Grayson/Nightstar: 15**

 **Tiffany Fox/Batgirl: 15**

 **Helena Wayne/Robin: 15**

 **Jamie Sarah Grayson: 6**

 **Jackson Alfred Grayson: 3**

 **Amelia Kane-Sawyer: 1**

 **Halie Wayne Grayson: 0**


End file.
